Congressman arrested for murder of journalists

guatemala city - In Guatemala Congressman Julio Juarez was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of two journalists in 2015. This confirmed the office of the Attorney General of Guatemala on Saturday.

Prosecutors and researchers at the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala said the politician was the mastermind behind an attack on journalists Danilo Efraín Zapón López and Federico Benjamín Salazar Gerónimo, who were killed in March 2015.

Juarez was arrested Saturday morning at his home in the southern district of Suchitepéquez and transferred to Guatemala City, the capital of the Central American nation. He said to be innocent on Saturday afternoon before the court.

Juarez was mayor of the southern city of San Antonio La Union from 2012 to 2015, before conquering a seat in Congress the following year. According to researchers, Zapon, journalist of the newspaper Prensa Libre, was murdered because he was working on a story about corruption by Juarez.