Post by Media Development Investment Fund

The recent decision by #Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office to drop the option of appealing the court to get journalist José Rubén Zamora back in jail marks a significant development for press freedom in the country. It should close the possibility of his return to prison after almost four years of being in and out of jail. The move has come after a change in leadership at the prosecutor's office, where new Attorney General Gabriel García Luna has said the institution will no longer be used as "an instrument of revenge". Zamora, founder of elPeriódico de Guatemala and one of Guatemala's best-known investigative journalists, has long maintained that the cases against him were retaliation for exposing corruption. This is an encouraging step towards restoring confidence in the rule of law and creating conditions where independent news can do its essential work of informing the public and holding power to account, and to clearing José Rubén's name. More information: https://lnkd.in/dFJKkgXh