In the Constitutional Court (CC), the public hearing was held this Tuesday, June 23, to learn about the actions related to the cases of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora. The titular magistrates Roberto Molina Barreto and Julia Rivera did not attend.
During the public hearing, Zamora claimed to have been a victim of “state terrorism” for 36 years and affirmed that the criminal process against him was plagued by irregularities.
He also pointed out that he never left the country to evade justice and questioned the investigation carried out by the Public Ministry (MP).
In statements to the press, the journalist referred to the preventive detention he has faced and stated that, in his case, he has spent more than 1,400 days imprisoned in an isolation facility, where sanctioned people remain no more than 18 days.
“Within those 1,400 days I have paid 72% in advance of a sentence that I still do not have in the money laundering case. And on the other hand I have served 98% – of the sentence – of the case that has to do with the airport tickets and an alleged case of obstruction that three years ago had its first hearing, there has been no intermediate hearing and I have been stuck in the air,” said Zamora.
According to Zamora, on several occasions people who, according to him, “are not even procedural subjects or supporting plaintiffs” have filed challenges against the judges in charge of the cases.
“It is unfortunate that in my case the hearings we have seen have been, in general, to see if I am in jail waiting for trials or I am at home, despite the fact that, as an anticipated sentence, I told them, in one case I have already served 98% and in the other 72%,” he added.
He stated that his cases have not been discussed, since what has been debated is whether he is imprisoned or can remain at home, where his life also continues in a lethargy, since he only leaves to put his fingerprint on the MP.
Zamora expressed that he lacks resources and that, according to him, his life is stagnant, since he has not seen his family for three years and is living a life “almost like a vegetable.”
“They annihilated my assets, they tried, because they couldn’t, to annihilate my presumption of innocence and they arbitrarily kept me locked up there,” he said.
He said that now he has to wait for the CC’s resolution and recalled that, with the reasoned vote against the then magistrate Rony López, magistrate Roberto Molina and former magistrate Leyla Lemus returned him to prison.
“I hope that justice prevails now and not just for me. The new Court has the opportunity to demonstrate that its commitment is to a genuine rule of law,” Zamora added.
Zamora explained that the substance of the public hearing has to do with preventive detention, which is an exceptional measure, and that he has spent 1,400 days in prison.
He indicated that in the case of alleged money laundering, even the judge said that “the MP was unable to prove that he had laundered,” and reiterated that he had already served 72% of the sentence in advance; according to him, almost three quarters.
He also reiterated the case in which he has already served 98% of the sentence and, according to Zamora, the MP has asked the CC to return him to prison so that he can serve the remaining 2%, which would be equivalent to three or four weeks.
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