Massive Gang Trial in El Salvador

0:00It's April 22nd. From your city to your ears, this is Adelaide News today, powered by AI. A massive trial just kicked off an El Salvador for 486 alleged MS-13 gang members, including top leaders. Prosecutors are hitting them with charges from over 47,000 crimes between 2012 and 2022, everything. From murders and femicides to extortion and gun running, this is one of the largest group trials ever, under President Naïb Bouquetless hard-line push against gangs. It all ties into the state of emergency that's been rolling since March 2022, now renewed multiple times. Security forces have grabbed more than 91,500 suspects, and Congress greenlit these mass trials to speed things up. The defendants are locked down in five prisons, including the ultra-secure Seikot facility that opened last year. Human rights groups are sounding alarms, saying these bulk trials trash due process and cut off access to lawyers.

1:01The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights echoed that on Tuesday, blasting the emergency rules for suspending defense rights, messing with, communications, and stretching detention times way too long. Prosecutors drop heavy evidence like autopsies, ballistics, and witness statements, pushing for max sentences that could stack up to 200, 45 years per person. Some on trial are old school leaders from that shaky 2012 to 2014 gang truce. Bouquetless team boasts the crackdown slash the homicide rate to just 1.3 per 100,000 last year, down from 7.8. In 2022, turning El Salvador into one of the safest spots in the hemisphere.