Latest news with #RodolfoDelgado
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
El Salvador extends pretrial detention for 80,000 gang suspects 2 more years
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador's Congress voted Friday to give government prosecutors two more years to hold the more than 80,000 people swept up under the state of emergency while they investigate alleged ties to the country's gangs. The Congress, controlled by President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party and its allies, voted 57 to three in favor of extending the period of pretrial incarceration. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said that with the extension authorities could carry out more complete investigations, present solid evidence and win sentences against members of organized crime. Lawmakers also gave the government the option of extending for another 12 months if necessary. Improved public safety under the state of emergency has swelled Bukele's popularity, but the suspension of some constitutional rights and general lack of due process has drawn criticism within and outside El Salvador. Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz of the VAMOS party, said Friday it showed the government's 'inability to deliver justice.' 'They've had more than two years to do a serious investigation of all of the cases and be able to take all of those detained to trial, and since they haven't done it on time, the (National) Assembly has to do a favor for the Attorney General's Office,' she said. Following an outburst of gang violence in March 2022, Bukele asked lawmakers for extraordinary powers to respond to a gang massacre. Among the rights the Congress agreed to suspend were the maximum time period take a prisoner before a judge, as well as fundamental protections like access to a lawyer. Since then, more than 88,000 people have been arrested for alleged ties to gangs, with 90 per cent still awaiting trial. In July 2023, the Congress voted to give the government 24 months to prosecute a group of gang members. That period is up this month on Aug. 25. Delgado said the plan is to carry out hundreds of mass trials as they've been able to sort the accused into groups. 'This big quantity of people isn't going to be judged in one or two weeks,' Delgado said. 'It takes a considerable amount of time for the judges to receive the evidence that links each one of them and then later issue verdicts according to each corresponding law.' Marcos Alemán, The Associated Press
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
El Salvador extends pretrial detention for 80,000 gang suspects 2 more years
El Salvador's Congress voted Friday to give government prosecutors two more years to hold the more than 80,000 people swept up under the state of emergency while they investigate alleged ties to the country's gangs. The Congress, controlled by President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party and its allies, voted 57 to 3 in favor of extending the period of pretrial incarceration. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said that with the extension authorities could carry out more complete investigations, present solid evidence and win sentences against members of organized crime. Lawmakers also gave the government the option of extending for another 12 months if necessary. Improved public safety under the state of emergency has swelled Bukele's popularity, but the suspension of some constitutional rights and general lack of due process has drawn criticism within and outside El Salvador. Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz of the VAMOS party, said Friday it showed the government's 'inability to deliver justice.' 'They've had more than two years to do a serious investigation of all of the cases and be able to take all of those detained to trial, and since they haven't done it on time, the (National) Assembly has to do a favor for the Attorney General's Office,' she said. Following an outburst of gang violence in March 2022, Bukele asked lawmakers for extraordinary powers to respond to a gang massacre. Among the rights the Congress agreed to suspend were the maximum time period take a prisoner before a judge, as well as fundamental protections like access to a lawyer. Since then, more than 88,000 people have been arrested for alleged ties to gangs, with 90% still awaiting trial. In July 2023, the Congress voted to give the government 24 months to prosecute a group of gang members. That period is up this month on Aug. 25. Delgado said the plan is to carry out hundreds of mass trials as they've been able to sort the accused into groups. 'This big quantity of people isn't going to be judged in one or two weeks,' Delgado said. 'It takes a considerable amount of time for the judges to receive the evidence that links each one of them and then later issue verdicts according to each corresponding law.'
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
El Salvador extends pretrial detention for 80,000 gang suspects 2 more years
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador's Congress voted Friday to give government prosecutors two more years to hold the more than 80,000 people swept up under the state of emergency while they investigate alleged ties to the country's gangs. The Congress, controlled by President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party and its allies, voted 57 to 3 in favor of extending the period of pretrial incarceration. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said that with the extension authorities could carry out more complete investigations, present solid evidence and win sentences against members of organized crime. Lawmakers also gave the government the option of extending for another 12 months if necessary. Improved public safety under the state of emergency has swelled Bukele's popularity, but the suspension of some constitutional rights and general lack of due process has drawn criticism within and outside El Salvador . Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz of the VAMOS party, said Friday it showed the government's 'inability to deliver justice.' 'They've had more than two years to do a serious investigation of all of the cases and be able to take all of those detained to trial, and since they haven't done it on time, the (National) Assembly has to do a favor for the Attorney General's Office,' she said. Following an outburst of gang violence in March 2022, Bukele asked lawmakers for extraordinary powers to respond to a gang massacre. Among the rights the Congress agreed to suspend were the maximum time period take a prisoner before a judge, as well as fundamental protections like access to a lawyer. Since then, more than 88,000 people have been arrested for alleged ties to gangs, with 90% still awaiting trial. In July 2023, the Congress voted to give the government 24 months to prosecute a group of gang members. That period is up this month on Aug. 25. Delgado said the plan is to carry out hundreds of mass trials as they've been able to sort the accused into groups. 'This big quantity of people isn't going to be judged in one or two weeks,' Delgado said. 'It takes a considerable amount of time for the judges to receive the evidence that links each one of them and then later issue verdicts according to each corresponding law.'
Associated Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
El Salvador extends pretrial detention for 80,000 gang suspects 2 more years
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador's Congress voted Friday to give government prosecutors two more years to hold the more than 80,000 people swept up under the state of emergency while they investigate alleged ties to the country's gangs. The Congress, controlled by President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party and its allies, voted 57 to 3 in favor of extending the period of pretrial incarceration. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said that with the extension authorities could carry out more complete investigations, present solid evidence and win sentences against members of organized crime. Lawmakers also gave the government the option of extending for another 12 months if necessary. Improved public safety under the state of emergency has swelled Bukele's popularity, but the suspension of some constitutional rights and general lack of due process has drawn criticism within and outside El Salvador. Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz of the VAMOS party, said Friday it showed the government's 'inability to deliver justice.' 'They've had more than two years to do a serious investigation of all of the cases and be able to take all of those detained to trial, and since they haven't done it on time, the (National) Assembly has to do a favor for the Attorney General's Office,' she said. Following an outburst of gang violence in March 2022, Bukele asked lawmakers for extraordinary powers to respond to a gang massacre. Among the rights the Congress agreed to suspend were the maximum time period take a prisoner before a judge, as well as fundamental protections like access to a lawyer. Since then, more than 88,000 people have been arrested for alleged ties to gangs, with 90% still awaiting trial. In July 2023, the Congress voted to give the government 24 months to prosecute a group of gang members. That period is up this month on Aug. 25. Delgado said the plan is to carry out hundreds of mass trials as they've been able to sort the accused into groups. 'This big quantity of people isn't going to be judged in one or two weeks,' Delgado said. 'It takes a considerable amount of time for the judges to receive the evidence that links each one of them and then later issue verdicts according to each corresponding law.'
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
El Salvador plans 600 mass trials for suspected gang members
Over 80,000 Salvadorans have been detained -- some of whom human rights defenders maintain are innocent -- since gang-busting President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency three years ago that allowed arrests without warrants. The government accuses the detainees all of being gang members, but with scant evidence or due process, no one knows for sure. "Approximately 300 prosecutors will be responsible for presenting evidence before appropriate courts in the approximately 600 trials that need to be initiated," Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told a congressional security committee. Delgado also suggested changes to the country's law against organized crime that could see the detainees remain in jail without charge for up to three more years. The committee gave a favorable opinion on Delgado's suggested changes, which included giving him two more years -- with the possibility of a third -- to file charges. "A considerable amount of time will have to pass for a judge to make a decision," Delgado said. He did not provide details about when the trials could start -- or the crimes the detainees could be charged with. The changes to the law are expected to be approved by Congress, which is dominated by Bukele's party, on Friday. That would be just days before a two-year deadline runs out for the attorney general to file charges. Bukele's hardline approach to El Salvador's powerful gangs has made him one of the world's most domestically popular leaders, even as human rights defenders sound the alarm over arbitrary arrests and growing authoritarianism. He recently made headlines by taking in migrants from the mass deportation drive of his ally US President Donald Trump and putting them in a maximum-security prison, where some have reported mistreatment. A report released by the US State Department this week declined to criticize El Salvador, saying there were "no credible reports of significant human rights abuses" in the country and instead noting a "historic low" in crime. Lawyer and human rights activist Ingrid Escobar warned that thousands of innocent people have been thrown in jail.
