Guatemala court sentences journalist to 6 years in prison for money laundering

FILE PHOTO: Journalist Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin, founder and president of El Periodico newspaper, talks with the media as he attends a court hearing in Guatemala City, Guatemala December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Josue Decavele/File Photo

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -A Guatemalan court on Wednesday sentenced Jose Zamora, a well-known journalist whose work has criticized successive governments, to six years in prison for money laundering in a case that rights groups have branded an attack on free speech.

Zamora has said the case against him is a "political persecution" by Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei due to reporting on alleged corruption involving the president and his close allies in Zamora's newspaper, elPeriodico, which shut down in May.