human rights defender
Sonny Armando Figueroa Alvarado
Actions and Campaigns
Organization affiliation
- Vox Populi
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Journalist/Blogger
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
HRD's bio and work
Current Status
Released
Detained since
Sep 1, 2026
Date of release
Sep 2, 2026
Charge(s)
- Other
Sentence
(AI Translated) He is sentenced to face a trial for misdemeanors, plus the payment of Q500 as bail in order to regain his freedom immediately.
Latitude: 14.626586245211103
Longitude: -90.51316559314728
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
(AI Translated) Guatemala City
Location of detention - Facility
(AI Translated) Courts Tower
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI Translated) The journalist reports that on the route from Jocotenango Park in Zone 2 to the Court Tower in Zone 1, he was beaten by the officers who were transporting him, and they also seized electronic devices (laptop and cell phone), as well as the bicycles that he and a fellow journalist regularly use.
Recent case update / evolution
(AI Translated) Journalist Sonny Figueroa was detained by agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) while he was with his colleague and co‑founder of the outlet Vox Populi, Marvin Del Cid; Del Cid and Figueroa reported insults and blows by the agents as well as the seizure of electronic devices (laptop and cell phone) and their bicycles, stating that the operation in which Figueroa was arrested did not follow PNC procedures.
He had previously been detained on September 11, 2020, by PNC agents in front of the National Palace in Zone 1. On that occasion the judge dismissed the charges against the journalist. An investigation into that detention was also ordered, which resulted in the conviction of the agents who had detained him.
Documented by
