It was when police arrested his colleague in October 2017 that Carlos Choc realised it was becoming too dangerous for him to keep reporting.

From the town of El Estor, and a member of the Maya Q’eqchi’ community, Choc, 36, has made his living documenting the lives of indigenous citizens.

On 27 May 2017, he became a witness to the violent repression of a demonstration in his home town. Fishermen had put up a barricade, concerned about pollution in the country’s largest expanse of fresh water, Lake Izabal.

They believed a nickel refinery at the Fenix mine, on the shores of the lake, was to blame. Fenix belongs to the Swiss-headquartered Solway group, which insists it is not contaminating the water. The government said the pollution came from agriculture and sewage.

Riot police first fired teargas, and then used live ammunition. One fisherman was shot dead, another wounded by a bullet from behind. The local station chief, confronted by journalists, still denies ordering his men to fire. There is an investigation, but two years on no officers have been charged.

“I was right in the middle, the riot police on one side, the people on the other,” Choc said. “The shots passed very close, even whistled past. I had to throw myself to the ground. But I tried to document, I tried to take photos, to take videos.”

Choc was able to record a killing that ministers at first tried to deny had happened at all. One photo, below, appears to show officers holding guns. Police fled the scene, leaving the body of Carlos Maaz Coc on the tarmac. The mayor’s house was then set on fire, and the public prosecutor refused the pleas of Maaz’s widow to attend the scene, saying the environment in El Estor was too dangerous. It was left to the family to take his remains away, after four-and-a-half hours of inaction.

That afternoon, Choc began to receive calls from TV stations, asking him to confirm the killing. He went on air to report from the scene. Later that night the threats began.

There were anonymous phone calls from people using foul language, asking him to come and meet them, then threatening to visit his home. Choc, a single father, was worried for his young children.

Within weeks, arrest warrants had been issued against Choc and another indigenous journalist, Jerson Xitumul. Both men were also working on an investigation into the Fenix mine for the news website Prensa Comunitaria.

In June, the public prosecutor added their names to a list of fishermen accused of holding company staff against their will during the blockade. The journalists say they were not present during these detentions, and have no knowledge of them. In May 2018, the company’s lawyer included their names in a request to link this case with a separate claim of “attempted femicide”.

Seventy-five women and their children, who were trapped for two weeks inside the gated community where the mine workers live with their families, have filed a criminal complaint against the fishermen and the two journalists.

The company’s request does not acknowledge their status as reporters. The presiding judge, and the prosecutors, repeatedly refer to Choc and Xitumul as trade unionists – though they are not a member of any fishermen’s union.

Xitumul was taken into custody, jailed for 38 days, and then placed under house arrest. He has stopped writing. On the advice of his lawyers Choc presented himself before a judge, voluntarily, in February 2018.

When he emerged from the courthouse, police were waiting to arrest him. But he was wearing his press vest, and carrying a camera. In the scrum of other reporters, Choc slipped away. He was bundled into a car by colleagues and driven to the capital, Guatemala City.

“Many things happen in Guatemalan prisons.” he says. “Sometimes they say ‘a person committed suicide’, but he didn’t commit suicide. With the information that I had, I ran a lot of risk.”

For 11 months, Choc was in hiding. During this period he says he offered to go before the court seven times, and seven times his hearing was delayed.

He continued writing, under an assumed name. He sold his motorbike and his smartphone in order to send money home. Choc had to stay indoors, and could only speak to his children over a secure internet connection.

In January this year, at the eighth attempt, Choc’s hearing took place. The public prosecutor, with the company’s agreement, asked for the charges against him to be dropped. The judge refused, requesting further investigations. The arrest warrant, however, was replaced by an order to sign in with the court each month – and a ban on buying alcohol.

Solway says an arrest warrant was issued for Choc because he had failed to show up to his first hearing. In a statement, the company said: “We never intimidate any media and have never tried to silence any reporting on our activities.”

Choc was able to return home. People still seek him out, asking him to report on their problems. But the threat of a trial remains.

“I hope this ends, and when it ends I can smile. I do not feel safe in El Estor.”