The captivity of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora was determined as “random“and in violation of international law by a human rights body investigating cases of deprivation of liberty at the United Nations.
In a decision The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said on Monday that Zamora’s arrest in July 2022 for alleged financial crimes resulted from his “legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”
As founder of the renowned independent investigative newspaper “elPeriódico”, Zamora has overseen dozens of corruption investigations since its founding in 1996, leaving him and his family vulnerable to state-run smear campaigns, car explosions, illegal raids, kidnappingsdeath threats and assassination attempts.
At the time of Zamora’s arrest, the newspaper published stories reporting 144 cases of corruption during the government of then-President Eduardo Giammattei.
Some of the most notorious cases involved corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines and bribery of Guatemalan officials doing business with Russian minersaccording to Zamora’s son, José Carlos Zamora Marroquín.
Zamora Marroquín recalled that the attacks on his father intensified after the investigations. The newspaper was forced to close last year, he said.
Last year, Zamora was sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering. Numerous human rights groups have said Zamora’s trial procedures were riddled with failures, including due process violations, abuse of pre-trial detention and obstruction of his right to legal defense.
“The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to immediately release Mr Zamora and grant him the effective right to obtain compensation and other remedies,” the decision reads in Spanish.
The decision came in response to a complaint filed in August by The Vance Center, which alleged that Zamora’s continued detention met the definition of arbitrary detention.
The Vance Center has represented Zamora since 2022, assisted by a team of pro bono attorneys from King & Spalding and the Chilean law firm Ciro Colombara.
According to Wilmer González, program advisor at The Vance Center, this is the first time the UN working group has determined that detaining someone for their political stance against corruption constitutes arbitrary detention.
“This groundbreaking ruling is not only important for the case of José Ruben Zamora, but also because it sets a legal precedent,” González said in a statement Tuesday.
“This decision makes clear what the Guatemalan government must do next: immediately release Zamora and take the necessary steps to remedy the violations of his rights,” González said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com