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El Salvador holds mass trial for 486 alleged members of notorious MS-13 gang
TL;DR
El Salvador's court has started a mass trial for 486 alleged MS-13 gang members, linked to over 47,000 crimes from 2012 to 2022. This trial is part of President Nayib Bukele's controversial crackdown on gang violence under emergency powers.
Key points
- El Salvador's court is conducting a mass trial for 486 alleged MS-13 members
- Charges include over 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022
- President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on gang violence uses controversial emergency powers
- More than 91,500 people have been detained under the state of emergency
- Human rights groups criticize the mass trials for violating due process
Mentioned in this story
Mara SalvatruchaNayib BukeleEl Salvador
A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, in one of the biggest mass trials under president Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers.
Prosecutors say the charges against alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13, span more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend that was El Salvador’s bloodiest since its civil war.
The charges include homicide, femicide, extortion and arms trafficking.
Under the state of emergency that took effect in 2022 and has been repeatedly renewed, security forces have detained more than 91,500 people and Congress passed a decree allowing for mass trials.
Human rights groups have warned that the collective prosecutions violate due process and block defendants from accessing legal counsel.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday reiterated concerns over human rights violations through the long-extended state of emergency, and called for an end to its use as a crime-fighting strategy.
“This regime suspends the rights to a legal defense and to the inviolability of communications, and also extends administrative detention timelines,” the commission said in a statement.
The defendants in the current case are being held across five prisons including Cecot, a notorious maximum-security prison opened by the Bukele administration in 2023 that has come to embody El Salvador’s zero-tolerance crackdown on gangs.
The Salvadoran prosecutor’s office has presented autopsies, ballistic analyses and witness testimony as evidence, and asked the judge to impose the maximum prison sentence for each crime.
A single defendant could receive up to 245 years in prison if found guilty of multiple charges.
Among those facing charges are alleged longstanding gang leaders who participated in the 2012 to 2014 truce between the government and gangs during the presidency of former leader Mauricio Funes.
Bukele’s government has said the gang crackdown under emergency powers pushed the homicide rate down last year to 1.3 per 100,000 people compared to 7.8 in 2022.
Q&A
What crimes are the MS-13 gang members charged with in El Salvador?
The alleged MS-13 gang members face charges including homicide, femicide, extortion, and arms trafficking.
How many people have been detained under El Salvador's state of emergency?
More than 91,500 people have been detained under the state of emergency that began in 2022.
What concerns have human rights groups raised about the mass trials in El Salvador?
Human rights groups have warned that the mass trials violate due process and hinder defendants' access to legal counsel.
