新湖畔网 （随信APP) | 被监禁的危地马拉记者扎莫拉获得了居家监禁条件

危地马拉记者何塞·鲁本·萨莫拉，已故《El Periodico》报纸创始人，被批准在家里软禁 - 版权AFP奥兰多·埃斯特拉达

周五，危地马拉法官批准了著名记者何塞·鲁本·萨莫拉的软禁请求，数月前这位作家的有条件释放被撤销。

危地马拉城市的法官埃里克·加西亚在近八小时的听证会中做出了支持这项请求的裁决，“出于人权原因”，并补充说“监禁刑期已经超过了限制。”

作为前右翼总统亚历杭德罗·吉亚马泰的政府的尖锐批评者，萨莫拉因洗钱指控被拘留了800多天。

这位现年68岁的《El Periodico》创始人于2023年6月被判处六年监禁。

他于五月被允许从军营转移到软禁所在，但一个月后上诉法院撤销了请求。

一组专家向联合国人权高级专员报告说，萨莫拉的监禁条件类似于“酷刑”，他在几个月内被长时间单独关押在接近黑暗的环境中。

吉亚马泰被人权团体指责在任期内对反腐败检察官和记者进行了打压，他的任期于一月结束。

他被安德瑞斯·阿雷瓦洛总统所接替，后者是一位不被看好的反腐败倡导者，克服了政治立场的阻挠才得以就职。

萨莫拉的拘留受到了美国、国际人权和新闻组织以及总统阿雷瓦洛的批评。

“萨莫拉将回家。正义开始得到伸张，黑暗的篇章即将结束，”阿雷瓦洛在法院裁决后在社交平台上写道。

新闻自由和人权组织谴责萨莫拉的起诉为“政治迫害”。

无国界记者（RSF）表示，萨莫拉在狱中的“地狱般的苦难将终结”，但警告称“软禁并非自由，而是另一种形式的拘留”，并呼吁“完全无条件释放”。

中美洲国家的检察部门将根据萨莫拉可能逃离该国的风险，就法院的裁决提出上诉，检察官拉斐尔·库鲁奇切告诉法新社。

Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, founder of the defunct El Periodico newspaper was granted house arrest - Copyright AFP Orlando ESTRADA

A Guatemalan judge on Friday granted the request for prominent journalist Jose Ruben Zamora to be placed under house arrest, months after the writer’s conditional release had been revoked.

Judge Erick Garcia concluded the near-eight-hour hearing in Guatemala City by ruling in favor of the request “for human rights reasons,” adding “the extent of the prison sentence has exceeded the limits.”

A stark critic of the government of former right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei, Zamora has been detained on money laundering charges for more than 800 days.

The 68-year-old founder of the now-shuttered El Periodico was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2023.

In May, he was granted a requested transfer to house arrest from the military barracks where he’s been held, only for an appellate court to revoke the request a month later.

A panel of experts reported to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that Zamora’s imprisonment conditions were akin to “torture,” with him remaining in solitary confinement in near constant darkness for months on end.

Giammattei has been accused by rights groups of overseeing a crackdown on anti-graft prosecutors and journalists during his term, which ended in January.

He was replaced by President Bernardo Arevalo, an underdog anti-corruption campaigner who overcame attempts by the political establishment to block his inauguration.

Zamora’s detention has been criticized by the United States, international rights and press organizations, as well as by President Arevalo.

“Zamora is coming home. Justice is beginning to be served, the dark chapter is going to end,” Arevalo wrote on social platform X after the court’s decision.

Press freedom and rights groups have denounced Zamora’s prosecution as a “witch hunt.”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed relief that Zamora’s “hellish ordeal behind bars will finally end,” but warned that “house arrest is not freedom. It is another form of detention” and called for a “full and unconditional release.”

The Central American country’s prosecution will appeal the court’s decision on grounds that the risk of Zamora fleeing the country remains, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche told AFP.