GUATEMALA CITY 鈥� A Guatemalan newspaper known for hard-hitting investigations of government corruption and whose founder , announced Friday that it will shut down.
ElPeri贸dico had in November, but had continued to publish as a digital outlet.
Jos茅 Rub茅n Zamora is on trial for money laundering and other charges, allegations he has said were trumped up to silence an independent media outlet that has been critical of President Alejandro Giammattei鈥檚 administration.
ElPeri贸dico will cease to publish May 15, the news outlet said in a statement.
Prosecutors accuse Zamora of money laundering related to a deposit of about $30,000 he asked someone else to make for him. Zamora鈥檚 relatives have said it was a donation from a supporter to cover the day-to-day costs of the paper after advertising fell off under government pressure. Zamora has said he didn鈥檛 deposit the money in the newspaper鈥檚 account because the donor didn鈥檛 want to be identified.
In addition to Zamora, nine other journalists and columnists from ElPeri贸dico are under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice.
鈥淥ur team resisted 287 days of persecution, political and economic pressure,鈥� elPeri贸dico said in reference to the time since Zamora was jailed last year.
The Guatemalan Association of Journalists and have called the case a politically motivated campaign against Zamora because of his anti-corruption efforts.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday the announcement comes after 10 months of judicial harassment of the newspaper, its founder and journalists.
"The decision of the elPeri贸dico newspaper to cease publication is the result of the President Alejandro Giammattei administration鈥檚 judicial and financial harassment of the outlet鈥檚 founder, Jos茅 Rub茅n Zamora, and its journalists for their critical reporting on corruption,鈥� said Carlos Mart铆nez de la Serna, CPJ鈥檚 program director, . 鈥淭he international community should send a clear message ahead of Guatemala鈥檚 upcoming presidential elections by demanding that Giammattei immediately release Zamora.鈥�
In an email to CPJ, , son of Jos茅 Rub茅n Zamora, called the closure of elPeri贸dico "devastating."
鈥淭he simple fact of doing journalism鈥搃nvestigating and denouncing corruption鈥搈ust not be criminalized,鈥� the younger Zamora wrote to CPJ. "One hundred [and] sixty-six exceptional professionals have lost their jobs, and 17 million citizens have lost an important source of information to them."
