{"id":23691,"date":"2025-03-28T20:03:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T00:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/?p=23691"},"modified":"2026-02-20T19:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:20:22","slug":"dplf-and-international-organizations-submit-amicus-brief-in-case-of-imprisoned-guatemalan-journalist-jose-ruben-zamora-marroquin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/2025\/03\/28\/dplf-and-international-organizations-submit-amicus-brief-in-case-of-imprisoned-guatemalan-journalist-jose-ruben-zamora-marroquin\/","title":{"rendered":"DPLF and international organizations submit amicus brief in case of imprisoned Guatemalan journalist Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora Marroqu\u00edn"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of 10 international organizations submitted an amicus curiae brief to Guatemala\u2019s Supreme Court in the case of journalist Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora Marroqu\u00edn. The brief, filed on March 26, argues that Zamora\u2019s return to preventive detention constitutes a violation of his fundamental rights under Guatemalan and international law, and urges the Court to grant a pending amparo appeal and allow Zamora to return to house arrest.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora Marroqu\u00edn, journalist and founder of the media outlet elPeri\u00f3dico, was arrested on July 29, 2022 on charges of financial crimes and held in preventive detention for more than 800 days. On October 18, 2024, an appeals court granted Zamora\u2019s provisional release to house arrest. However, on March 4, 2025, the Third Chamber of the Criminal Court of Appeals partially annulled the process and reversed the decision that granted substitutive measures, ordering Zamora back to jail. The next day, Zamora\u2019s legal team filed a constitutional amparo action before the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the March 4 appeals court decision, and seeking to protect Zamora\u2019s human rights, particularly his right to liberty. On March 10, 2025, the Court complied with the decision of the Third Chamber, and Zamora was remanded in custody.<\/p>\n

The amicus brief, filed in support of the amparo, urges the Court to maintain the criteria of the lower court that determined Zamora’s trial could move forward under alternative measures, \u201cwithout the need to remain in pretrial detention.\u201d It states that \u201cnot granting [the] amparo in favor of Mr. Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora Marroqu\u00edn would constitute a serious violation of his rights under international standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould this Court decide to grant the amparo, Mr. Zamora would be able to return to obtaining substitutive measures instead of serving several more years in pretrial detention without a final sentence. The alleged flight risk supporting the remand is unsubstantiated, as Mr. Zamora has consistently demonstrated his compliance with imposed restrictions, and with the home detention regime in general.<\/p>\n

Mr. Zamora’s extended deprivation of liberty is unnecessary and unjustified, given that he has not been convicted with a final sentence. This situation violates international human rights standards such as the right to liberty, the exceptionality of pre-trial detention and the presumption of innocence.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the brief, the signatory organizations cite the May 2024 opinion of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Zamora\u2019s case<\/a>. The Working Group determined that Zamora\u2019s ongoing imprisonment constituted arbitrary detention and violated multiple international human rights standards, and called on the Guatemalan government to \u201cremedy Mr. Zamora’s situation without delay and bring it into compliance with relevant international standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brief highlights the profound negative effects of detention on the physical and mental health of the 68-year-old journalist, including significant weight loss, skin and digestive issues, and other adverse effects. It points to significant delays and inconsistencies in the criminal proceedings against Zamora, and argues that prosecutors and appeals courts have failed to present sufficient evidence to justify the need for preventive detention in this case.<\/p>\n

The brief also notes the retaliatory nature of the case. Numerous international organizations, including many of the brief signatories, have repeatedly raised concerns about the case\u2019s broader impact on press freedom in Guatemala, and the use of criminal proceedings to intimidate journalists and human rights defenders like Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe circumstances of Mr. Zamora’s detention indicate that it is used as a punishment and not to prevent him from escaping or hindering the case. Pretrial detention is a means of silencing his journalistic activities, rather than responding to legitimate criminal procedural concerns,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

Signatories<\/strong>
\nCyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice
\nCIVICUS
\nCommittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
\nDue Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)
\nReporteros Sin Fronteras (RSF)
\nWashington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
\nArticle 19 M\u00e9xico y Centroam\u00e9rica
\nInternational Center for Journalists (ICFJ)
\nProtection International Mesoam\u00e9rica
\nSociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Photo Credit: Carlos Alonzo \/ EP Investiga via X.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of 10 international organizations submitted an amicus curiae brief to Guatemala\u2019s Supreme Court in the case of journalist Jos\u00e9 Rub\u00e9n Zamora Marroqu\u00edn. The brief, filed on March 26, argues that Zamora\u2019s return to preventive detention constitutes a violation of his fundamental rights under Guatemalan and international law, and urges the Court to grant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":24386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[681],"tags":[996],"country":[880,876],"issue":[913,860],"program":[872],"resource":[896],"class_list":["post-23691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comunicados","tag-human-rights-defenders","country-guatemala","country-america-central","issue-authoritarianism-and-democratic-backsliding","issue-other-issues","program-judicial-independence","resource-press-releases"],"acf":{"boton_1":"Download in pdf","url_boton_1\u00ba":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PBN-Joint-Statement-Amicus-Curiae-caso-Jose-Ruben-Zamora-.pdf","boton_2":"Read amicus (Available in Spanish only)","url_boton_2":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Amicus-Curiae-ante-la-Corte-Suprema-de-Justicia-de-Guatemala-en-caso-Jose-Ruben-Zamora.pdf","boton_3":"Leer comunicado en espa\u00f1ol","url_boton_3":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/organizaciones-internacionales-presentamos-amicus-curiae-en-el-caso-del-periodista-guatemalteco-encarcelado-jose-ruben-zamora-marroquin\/","boton_4":"","url_boton_4":"","boton_5":"","url_boton_5":"","boton_6":"","url_boton_6":"","boton_7":"","url_boton_7":"","boton_8":"","url_boton_8":"","boton_9":"","url_boton_9":"","boton_10":"","url_boton_10":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Jose-Ruben-Zamora-EP-Investiga-Guatemala-e1771633205238.jpeg?fit=1333%2C653&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23691"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24388,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23691\/revisions\/24388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23691"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=23691"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=23691"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=23691"},{"taxonomy":"resource","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource?post=23691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}