News about #justice
Rebel Bites
Theresa Ejiro EfiakpovworeHonduras hands over to El Salvador a 79-year-old man wanted since 2007 for aggravated homicide
The Honduran National Police handed over to Salvadoran authorities a 79-year-old man from Pasaquina, La Unión, who was the subject of an Interpol red notice, according to Radio América and Diario El Mundo. The man had been wanted since October 2, 2007, by the Santa Rosa de Lima Investigating Court, La Unión Norte, for aggravated homicide. The handover took place at the El Amatillo border post, in coordination with authorities from Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
Former Soyapango mayor Nercy Montano sentenced to five years in prison over arbitrary firings
San Salvador's Fifth Sentencing Court sentenced former Soyapango mayor Nercy Patricia Montano to five years in prison for arbitrary acts and continued disobedience. According to the trial, during her term, from May 1, 2021 until her removal in December 2022, she fired four employees without following the Municipal Administrative Career Law. She also ignored labor court orders to reinstate them and pay the wages and benefits they had lost. Prosecutors argued she knew the legal procedures and decided the firings unilaterally.
Barrio 18 gang members who operated in Tecoluca get 25 to 30 years, prosecutors say
According to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), members of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios gang were sentenced to 25 to 30 years in prison for illicit association. The FGR says the group intimidated residents of the Tecoluca district, in San Vicente, and surrounding areas between 2012 and 2022. The sentences were handed down by San Salvador's Third Court against Organized Crime. Those convicted were arrested under the state of exception and, according to the FGR, also face other cases. The number of people convicted was not reported.
El Salvador hands down its first life sentence for the rape of a girl, according to the Attorney General's Office
According to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), a court sentenced a man to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in the east of the country between February and June 2026. The FGR said it is the first case tried in the country under the reform that sets life imprisonment for sex crimes. According to the prosecutors' investigation, the convicted man contacted the victim through social media and took advantage of the age difference to manipulate her. The reform is part of the package of criminal law changes the Legislative Assembly approved in March, after a constitutional amendment allowing that penalty was ratified.
Former president Elías Antonio Saca leaves prison and goes to the Isidro Menéndez Judicial Center
Former president Elías Antonio Saca, who governed from 2004 to 2009, left prison and appeared on Thursday afternoon, October 29, at the Isidro Menéndez Judicial Center in San Salvador to complete paperwork tied to his release, according to El Diario de Hoy and Infobae. Saca served his ten-year prison sentence, five years for embezzlement and five for money and asset laundering, handed down in 2018 in a summary proceeding in which he admitted the facts; he had been arrested on October 30, 2016. According to El Diario de Hoy, he arrived with Élmer Charlaix, the Presidency's former private secretary, and avoided making statements to reporters. The same outlet noted that the Attorney General's Office said the assets linked to the case will remain in state custody.
The US extradites a 27-year-old man to El Salvador to face charges over a 2019 femicide
According to the US Embassy, which published a statement from the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, a 27-year-old man with dual US and Salvadoran citizenship was handed over to Salvadoran authorities on Wednesday, October 28, at El Salvador's request. He will face charges of aggravated femicide and attempted homicide over the death of a woman in 2019. According to the extradition request, the woman's body was found on February 1, 2019 near a road, and days later farmworkers found the couple's son, a child under two, alive and severely dehydrated. The accused had been in US custody since October 2024. These are accusations; he has not been tried.
Former president Elías Antonio Saca is free after serving his 10-year sentence, according to prosecutors
Former president Elías Antonio Saca has had a release order in effect since Tuesday, October 27, after serving the 10-year prison sentence he received for embezzlement and money laundering in the case known as Destape a la Corrupción. According to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), Saca regained his freedom on completing that sentence. The FGR also said the assets, companies, real estate and vehicles linked to the case will remain in state custody. Saca was arrested in October 2016 and sentenced in September 2018 after admitting the charges in a plea procedure; the court also set civil liability of approximately $260.7 million.
49 MS gang members who operated in La Paz sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, according to prosecutors
According to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), San Salvador's Third Organized Crime Court sentenced 49 members of the Mara Salvatrucha to up to 30 years in prison for unlawful association. The FGR says the group intimidated residents of La Paz Oeste and La Paz Centro, including San Pedro Masahuat, San Antonio Masahuat, San Miguel Tepezontes and San Juan Tepezontes. Those convicted were arrested under the state of exception between March 2022 and June 2026. Prosecutors said they will face further proceedings for additional crimes.
62 Barrio 18 members who operated in Tenancingo sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison
The Third Organized Crime Court of San Salvador sentenced 62 members of the Barrio 18 gang for illicit association, according to the judicial branch's Centros Judiciales, as reported by La Prensa Gráfica and Diario El Salvador. Of them, 18 were identified as "homeboys" and 38 as active civilian members, and they received sentences of 25 to 30 years; six others, identified as collaborators, were sentenced to 20 to 25 years. The group operated in the district of Tenancingo, in Cuscatlán, and according to Diario El Salvador also in Monte San Juan. That outlet adds that prosecutors linked them to years of extortion of small businesses and that all were detained under the state of exception in force since March 2022.
El Salvador's government skips IACHR hearings on the state of exception and the human rights ombudsman's office
El Salvador's government sent no representatives on Monday, October 26, to hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held in Panama during its 197th session. The first hearing dealt with people detained under the state of exception, and the second with the role of the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH), which, according to the organizations, did not attend either. Groups including Cristosal, Socorro Jurídico Humanitario and the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Center alleged arbitrary detentions, torture and deaths in custody, and asked the Commission to urge the government to repeal the state of exception. According to La Prensa Gráfica, the commissioners voiced concern about the government's absence.
UN experts list Salvadorans among trafficking victims recruited into Russia's army
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine presented a report to the UN General Assembly on Monday, October 26. It says it has evidence that Russian authorities trafficked people from 29 countries into their armed forces through deception and coercion. Salvadorans are among the victims. La Prensa Gráfica had documented in July the case of at least five Salvadorans taken to Russia under false pretenses who remain missing.
Prosecutors seek life sentences for 564 Barrio 18 gang leaders
The Attorney General's Office filed its final indictment on Thursday, October 22, against 564 leaders of the Revolucionarios and Sureños factions of the Barrio 18 gang, according to El Mundo and NTN24. Of the defendants, 474 are in custody and 90 will be tried in absentia. According to deputy prosecutor for organized crime Max Muñoz, they are charged with more than 14,000 crimes, including homicide and extortion, as well as membership in a terrorist organization. Prosecutors are asking for a mass trial and life imprisonment, which Salvadoran law allows for that crime after a reform approved this year. The case adds to the mass trial of MS-13 leaders that began in April.
Assembly committee backs reports to toughen penalties for dangerous driving
The Legislative Assembly's National Security and Justice Committee on Tuesday issued favorable reports on reforms to the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Land Transport, Traffic and Road Safety Law, presented by Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado and Deputy Transport Minister Nelson Reyes. According to the Security Ministry, the reforms provide for prison sentences of up to 10 years for negligent homicide or injury, and up to 15 years when the driver is operating a bus or a cargo vehicle. Driving with any concentration of alcohol would count as dangerous driving, and these cases could no longer be closed through conciliation or mediation. The Deputy Ministry of Transport also proposes letting inspectors hold vehicles with dangerous defects and expanding technical inspections. The changes still have to go to the full Assembly.
Attorney General's Office requests $95.3 million for 2027 and plans AI-assisted complaints
Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado presented the office's 2027 budget request to the Assembly's Finance Committee; according to Infobae it totals $95.3 million, almost all of it for operating costs. Among the projects is the second phase of the Smart Complaint Intake system, which will use artificial intelligence so people can file complaints from phones and computers. According to La Página, the office will also extend its psychosocial care model for victims to its Sonsonate and San Vicente offices. Delgado said the funds aim "to sustain those results, assist victims and guarantee the legality of the 2027 elections" (our translation).
Driver accused over the Los Chorros pileup will remain in pretrial detention
The Second Magistrate's Court of Colón ordered that the truck driver accused over the October 2 crash at Los Chorros, on the Pan-American Highway, remain in pretrial detention while the case proceeds. Prosecutors charge him with negligent homicide, negligent injury and dangerous driving, and say he was speeding and driving without a license. The crash, in which the truck hit several vehicles and a route 202 bus, left five people dead and more than 12 injured.
Security Ministry: Summarizes the proposed reforms against dangerous driving, with sentences of up to 15 years for bus and truck drivers
The Security Ministry summarizes the proposed reforms against dangerous driving, with sentences of up to 15 years for bus and truck drivers.
Prosecutors report more than 10,500 convictions of gang members since the state of exception began
Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told the Legislative Assembly committee reviewing the 2027 budget on Tuesday that prosecutors have obtained 10,561 convictions of gang members since March 2022. According to Delgado, most of those convicted belong to MS-13 and Barrio 18. The figures run through October 16. They are court convictions and are not the same as the total number of people detained under the state of exception.
Claudia Ortiz calls the plan to review gang collaborators' cases "improvisation"
VAMOS lawmaker Claudia Ortiz called President Nayib Bukele's statements about reviewing the cases of detained gang collaborators "improvisation" (our translation) in a TV interview on Monday, October 19. "The problem we have in our country, I'll say it concisely, is a security and justice model that is unsustainable," she said, according to Diario El Salvador (our translation). Ortiz acknowledged that the model has delivered security results, but said what she asks for is justice, both for those who committed crimes and for those jailed without having done anything. She also mentioned forced disappearances inside the prison system, according to both outlets.