Guatemala: RSF welcomes court order for Jose Rubén Zamora’s release to house arrest, but calls for full and unconditional freedom
After more than 800 days behind bars, elPeriódico publisher Jose Rubén Zamora will soon be provisionally released to house arrest following a Guatemalan court decision on 18 October. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the decision and is relieved that Zamora will be transferred home, but continues to campaign for his full and unconditional release.
Court proceedings dragged on for more than nine hours due to attempts by the prosecutor to further postpone the hearing, following prior extensive delays throughout the entire judicial process since Zamora’s arrest on 29 July 2022. The judge declared that "the preventive detention period permitted by law was exceeded" in Zamora's case and ordered his transfer to house arrest, with a ban on leaving the country, while his passport must remain in judicial custody. The court did not impose a financial penalty.
This decision was tied to the secondary cases against Zamora, and was needed to clear the way for his provisional release following an earlier similar decision by the court in the main case against him. The 68 year-old journalist is scheduled for transfer to his home in Guatemala City on 22 October, the next working day in Guatemala. On release, he will have spent 816 days in prison.
We are hugely relieved that after more than 800 days, Jose Rubén Zamora's hellish ordeal in a Guatemalan prison has finally been brought to an end with the court decision for his release to house arrest. But let's be clear: house arrest is not freedom. It is another form of detention. Although Zamora will thankfully not be behind bars, he will remain arbitrarily deprived of his liberty while he continues to fight the spurious cases against him in court. We call again for this judicial harassment to be brought to an immediate close, and for Zamora's full and unconditional release without further delay.
While house arrest constitutes another form of detention, the transfer will mean that Zamora can expect much better conditions than his experience in prison, where expert bodies including a group of UN Special Rapporteurs have documented evidence of inhuman conditions and mistreatment. From home, he will continue to fight the spurious legal cases against him – including the main case on money-laundering charges, in which the appeal hearing has already been postponed an additional year, to September 2025.
RSF has been campaigning for Zamora’s release since his arrest in July 2022, including multiple country missions to Guatemala and visits to Zamora in prison. Following President Bernardo Arévalo’s inauguration in January 2024 and stated commitment to press freedom, RSF representatives have repeatedly pressed him on the need for his administration’s support for Zamora’s release, including in meetings in Guatemala in July and in New York in September. He tweeted in response to the 18 October court decision: “Zamora returns home. Justice is beginning to arrive, the dark circle will end.”
RSF and Doughty Street Chambers will hold a press conference in London on 21 October, featuring Zamora’s son Jose Carlos Zamora, RSF’s Director of Campaigns Rebecca Vincent, and Doughty Street Chambers barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, a member of Zamora’s international legal team. The three will also be speaking on a panel at the Trust Conference on 22 October.
Guatemala is ranked 138th out of 180 countries on RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
