About 220 alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang members went on trial at El Salvador's CECOT prison, accused collectively of more than 29,000 murders. President Nayib Bukele has compared the mass trial to Nazi Nuremberg trials. Witnesses testified about torture including burning of victim's genitals.
Footage released by the attorney general's office shows large groups of men in prison attending the trial via video link.
El Salvador's attorney general has begun a mass trial of 486 suspected MS-13 gang leaders collectively accused of over 47,000 crimes including murder, extortion, drug and arms trafficking between 2012-2022. Among those on trial are alleged participants in March 2022 gang violence that killed 87 people in one weekend, prompting President Nayib Bukele's "war on gangs" and a state of emergency. Charges also include femicide, disappearances, and rebellion. The US designated MS-13 a terrorist organization last year.
El Salvador's attorney general has begun a mass trial of 486 suspected MS-13 gang members collectively accused of over 47,000 crimes spanning 2012-2022. The trial follows President Nayib Bukele's 2022 declaration of war on gangs after 87 people were killed in a single weekend. UN experts have criticized the mass trial format as undermining defense rights and presumption of innocence.
The attorney-general says 486 suspected MS-13 members have faced trial for 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022.
