"Doing Journalism Is a Crime": Guatemalan Publisher José Rubén Zamora Faces 40 Years Behind Bars

Prominent Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora faces 40 years in prison in his sentencing hearing Wednesday for what press freedom and human rights groups say are inflated charges of money laundering. Zamora is the founder and president of the investigative newspaper El Periodico and has long reported on Guatemalan government corruption. El Periodico was forced to shut down last month after months of intensifying harassment and persecution from President Alejandro Giammattei's right-wing government. The government has held Zamora as a hostage" for nearly a year as part of its wider crackdown on the press, says his son Jose Carlos Zamora, a journalist based in Miami who is advocating for his father's release.