Guatemala: CFWIJ Welcomes The Acquittal Of Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz, Justice Arrived After A Year Of A House Arrest
Location: Guatemala
Date: September 8, 2021
The court dismissed the charges of sedition against the indigenous journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz, arrested in September 2020 and accused of participating in demonstrations in the city of Joyabaj, Guatemala. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) welcomes Anastasia’s acquittal, after a year of imprisonment, justice finally arrived at the journalist. We call on Guatemalan authorities to end intimidating journalists and respect press freedom.
On September 3, the court dismissed sedition charges against journalist Anastasia Mejía Tiriquiz, director of the radio station Xol Abaj Radio and Xol Abaj TV. Anastasia, who belongs to the indigenous community, was arrested in September 2020 and accused of participating in a protest that turned violent.
The journalist was arrested by Guatemalan police on September 22, 2020, for charges of “sedition”, “aggravated attack”, and “arson”. The charges against Anastasia were related to her coverage of a demonstration held against the mayor of Joyabaj. The journalist was detained for five weeks before she was released to house arrest. Since being confined to her house, her journalistic work was exceptionally difficult.
Almost a year later, the Nebaj Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted the journalist of all charges and she will no longer face trial for simply doing her job.
During the time of her detention and house arrest, Anastasia faced baseless charges and legal persecution. First, she was held at a detention centre in Quetzaltenango for five weeks and encountered a high risk of contracting COVID-19 in the detention facility. Although Guatemalan law establishes an initial hearing must take place within 24 hours after an arrest, her hearing was set for October 8, more than two weeks after her arrest. A judge then pushed back the already-overdue hearing to October 28, to allow for “further investigation of evidence,” and left Anastasia to spend more than a month in arbitrary pre-trial detention. On October 28, she was released to house arrest after she paid a $2,500 bond, but the judge ruled the criminal proceedings against her could move forward.
In January, the CFWIJ and the Committee of Protect Journalists (CPJ) launched a petition to raise awareness of the legal persecution and called on Guatemalan authorities to drop all outrageous charges against the journalist. More than 50 signatories, including individuals and international organizations, joined our petition for justice.
An award-winner journalist was recognized for her relentless service in the field of journalism, during her house arrest. Anastasia won the 2021 Press Freedom Award in June 2021. This was truly proof of her dedication and bravery work on journalism and acknowledging the escalating challenges that Guatemalan women face in pursuit of their journalistic coverage.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism welcomes the decision of acquittal. However, we demand Guatemalan authorities end intimidating journalists by taking necessary measures for freedom of expression and press freedom. The arrest, excessive detention and criminal prosecution of Anastasia Mejía was a clear attack on freedom of expression and the public's right to access information. Journalists are not criminals, and a free press is not dangerous.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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