The Constitutional Court (CC) declared an appeal of the Public Ministry (MP) and keeps an amparo in force that granted house arrest to the journalist Jose Rubén Zamora in the first criminal process against him.
According to the resolution, the appeal of the MP was not the ideal resource. Now, Zamora’s freedom depends on the amparo and prejudice chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), which is pending to resolve an amparo action for the second criminal process facing the journalist.
Zamora, founder of Elperiódico, was arrested on July 29, 2022 for a case related to alleged money laundering, due to Q300 thousand that were seized in cash.
On January 13, the CSJ, through the amparo and prejudice chamber, granted a provisional protection to the journalist, which avoided his re -entry to prison. However, this measure temporarily suspended the ruling of the Second Appeals Chamber of the Criminal Branch, which had revoked its substitute measures in the first case.
Zamora says that, during the time he enjoyed substitute measures in the two processes, he did not incur breaches.
In the second case, the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) accuses it of obstruction to justice, for allegedly conspiring to hinder an investigation for money laundering in 2013.
In that same process, the FECI added the position of falsification of signatures in sworn statement tickets to travel abroad, so it requested to open a new process for use of counterfeit documents. However, the Second Criminal Instance Court, which at that time was in charge of Judge Erick García, granted him the house arrest.
However, the Third Appeals Chamber ordered its return to prison. This decision seeks to cancel, but its review is in the hands of the amparo and prejudice chamber of the CSJ.