Justice El Salvador extends pre-trial detention for tens of thousands of prisoners
The parliament in El Salvador has extended the pre-trial detention of tens of thousands of alleged gang members imprisoned in the country until at least 2027. The MPs passed an amendment to the law on organized crime on Friday.
16.08.2025, 01:14
SDA
They passed the amendment ten days before the maximum two-year period of pre-trial detention allowed for more than 88,000 prison inmates, during which charges must be brought, would have expired.
The inmates were arrested after President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency in March 2022. The state of emergency allows the army to be deployed and arrests to be made without a judicial warrant. The government accuses the detainees of being members of various gangs, but has not provided any evidence. According to human rights activists, many of those arrested are innocent.
600 mass trials
The detainees are now to be tried in around 600 mass trials, as announced by Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado on Thursday. Around 300 public prosecutors are to be deployed. The suspected gang members would be tried according to their organization, the area of their activity or their connection to the crimes under investigation, Delgado explained. He did not say when the trials might begin or what crimes the prisoners might be charged with.
Bukule's crackdown on the powerful gangs in El Salvador has met with approval in many quarters and has made him one of the most popular heads of state. However, human rights activists are sounding the alarm, complaining of arbitrary arrests and increasing authoritarianism in the country.
Prisoner exchange with the USA and Venezuela
In March, Bukele also took in dozens of migrants deported from the USA under US President Donald Trump's tough migration policy. The 252 Venezuelans, who Trump accused of belonging to the criminal organization Tren de Aragua, were housed in the notorious Cecot maximum security prison in El Salvador.
After months of detention, the men were returned to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange between Caracas and Washington. Some of the migrants had reported mistreatment in the prison.
