The journalist Jose Rubén Zamora was sent back to jail Mariscal Zavalain zone 17, where according to the Penitentiary System (SP) And his relatives, he is in the same cell he occupied before recovering his probation. According to their relatives, the room “irritates the eyes and congests the nose for being wet and dirty.”
Since July 29, 2022, when Zamora was arrested, he has received psychological intimidations, according to the complaints that he and his family have made public. International organizations have condemned their capture. The journalist was on probation on October 19, 2024after staying 813 days in prison.
The jail Mariscal Zavalawhere Zamora was returned, is located within the Military Brigade of the same namein zone 17 of the Guatemala City. It was established in 2010 as a temporary measure to accommodate high profile people and whose security could be at risk in other prisons. The former president Alfonso Portillo He was one of the first to be transferred to this center in August of 2010.
José Carlos Zamora, son of Rubén Zamora, confirmed that his father returned to Bartolina 2 of the isolation section. However, it has had to clean it again, since the cell is “full of earth and wet.”
Although it had an electric shower, it burned by the instability of the electric current. In addition, when it came out, the microwave took, explained José Carlos. However, he said that the penitentiary authorities will allow him to reinstall a heater and carry an electric oven.
Nor did they find the bunk he had before, but a conventional bed. However, permission was given to enter a mattress, in order to prevent the same skin infections from suffering from the fleas and bed bugs in the room.
For now, according to José Carlos Zamora, his father enjoys good health, although they fear he gets sick again.
“I have not been able to see it, but I have communicated with my mother and relatives. Yesterday, when they came to see it, they told me that they went out with irritated eyes and congested nose, because the cell is very closed and dirty. That room had months of being closed, ”he said.
He added: “There was mold on the walls and earth on the floor. You have to clean. The good thing is that they let someone help it. ”
Concern, according to the journalist’s son, is not only his health, but also his life.
“We know how prisons are in Guatemala. It is something that has always worried us, because in prisons anything can happen, ”he said.
As for the visits, they will be on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at which time family and friends can enter.
“During the Giammattei government, they were very hard in jail and did not let anyone into. Several times they did not allow my mother’s entry, they told him that no one had arrived, ”he lamented.
The SP confirmed that Zamora is in the same cell he occupied previously and has “with basic services, as well as the necessary security measures. You have the right to visit and receive parcels. ”
During his first days in that prison, he denounced intimidation of other inmates, who gave him threats in front of the cell door. He also claimed to have suffered skin diseases for sleeping in a mattress with bedbugs and fleas.
Controversial jail
Since it was put into operation, that center for deprivation of liberty has been the scene of several events that have evidenced challenges in their management and security.
The prison was intended to house effective collaborators and protected witnesses. However, over time, it became a detention center for former officials and public figures accused of corruption, as well as drug traffickers and other high profile criminals. Among the outstanding inmates who have passed through that prison is former president Otto Pérez Molina, along with other former officials of his administration.
Over the years, the prison has been the scene of several media incidents. In March 2016, the warden Mynor Hernández Pérez was arrested during a surprise inspection, after Q6 thousand were found in cash. The authorities suspected that money came from bribes in exchange for granting privileges to inmates.
In July 2017, an inspection was carried out in the female sector of the center, after complaints of alleged sexual abuse against an intern. In January 2025, a member of the Barrio 18 gang was killed within the prison by another inmate of the same criminal structure.
Overcrowding
Walter Menchú, an analyst at the National Economic Research Center (one hundred), says that in January this year this prison housed 191 people, although its capacity is 136. This means an occupation rate of 140 % and an overcrowding rate of 20 %.
Menchú indicates that in general terms, in December there were a total of 23 thousand 17 deprived of liberty in 6,842 spaces available in all prisons in the country. This is equivalent to an occupancy rate of 336% and an overcrowding rate of 219%.
Reporteros Without Borders (RSF) and Amnesty International (AI) organizations condemned that the journalist Jose Rubén Zamora Marroquín has been imprisoned again, after a court complied with the resolution of the Third Chamber of Appeals, which annulled the house arrest of which he had been a beneficiary.
For its part, the Gabo Foundation expressed its deep concern for the recapture of Zamora and its return to prison.
The Foundation recalled that Zamora is the winner of the recognition of the excellence of the Gabo 2024 Award, thanks to his informative work.
Zamora, 68, is accused of an alleged case of money laundering and blackmail, in a process that international organizations and several governments consider an attack against the press by the previous government.