Gang members in El Salvador are sentenced to sentences of up to 1,000 years in prison

One of the gang members, classified as “terrorist” by the United States received a sentence of 1,335 years in prison. Another 10 were sentenced, respectively, to 958, 880, 739, 745, 739, 702, 639, 543, 530 and 463 years in prison.

Among the crimes committed between 2014 and 2022, there is the murder of a university student and a soccer player, in addition to cases of extortion and drug trafficking.

The gang members “they created bases in different sectors” from the province of La Libertad that “were used to plan” criminal acts, he added.

The group extorted “victims who had businesses, demanding different amounts of money in exchange for not attacking their lives,” the Prosecutor’s Office added. similar to Bukele.

Samuel Ramírez, leader of a movement of relatives of prisoners detained by the emergency regime who claim their innocence, told AFP that he agrees that “the law is applied to criminals,” but questioned whether the sentence complied with “due process.”

“Unfortunately, for now, there is no transparency in judicial processes” in El Salvador, said Ramírez, who considered that the high penalties are “a populist marketing strategy” in favor of Bukele.

READ ALSO: Gang leaders assure El Faro that they helped Bukele come to power in El Salvador

Bukele’s “war” reduced homicides to historic levels in the country, but human rights groups criticize his strategy by denouncing abuses by security forces. Since 2022, 454 Salvadorans have died in prisons, according to NGOs.

Despite criticism, other governments in the region have announced that they will implement similar measures against crime.

Bukele recently agreed to share his experience with the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, who is facing an increase in crime in his country and plans to build a prison similar to Cecot, the Salvadoran megaprison that is a symbol of the fight against gangs.