The Salvadoran presidency announced yesterday, Sunday, that the sentencing, which was expected today, of nearly 500 alleged leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), who have been on trial as a group since April for more than 47,000 crimes.
The sentencing hearing has been “postponed,” the court presidency stated in a message to reporters, without explaining the reasons, adding that it would announce the new date as soon as it is set.
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This is the first mass trial in El Salvador targeting a gang leadership structure, specifically 485 alleged gang leaders from 2012 to 2022, who are appearing remotely at their trial—they are incarcerated in various prisons.
The Mara Salvatrucha, formed in the 1990s in the United States, is one of the most powerful and ruthless criminal organizations in Central America.
A court will hand down verdicts on “more than 47,420 charges” against them, according to the prosecution. Among them are some 29,000 homicides, for which 22 senior members of the organization are charged, as well as femicides, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, forced disappearances, and other criminal offenses.
In June, the prosecutor’s office promised “thousands of years” of imprisonment for the leaders of MS-13.
In office since 2019, Salvadoran right-wing President Nayib Bukele enjoys high popularity due to the “war” on gangs he has been waging since 2022, based on a state of emergency, under which, however, international nongovernmental organizations allege that widespread human rights violations have been committed.
The head of state went so far as to compare the mass trial to the Nuremberg trials, which were held against the leaders of Nazi Germany, in the twilight of World War II.
However, NGOs argue that the mass trial of their cases violates their right to a fair trial.
Source: Proto Thema
