El Salvador hikes prison sentences for gang members

By MARCOS ALEMÁN
Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s Congress has increased sentences for crimes committed by gang members at the request of President Nayib Bukele, expanding on a state of emergency lawmakers granted last weekend as the president pursues the country’s powerful street gangs. Justice and Public Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro said Wednesday that now simply belonging to a gang would bring “an exemplar sentence.” The changes to El Salvador’s penal code passed with votes from 76 of the 84 lawmakers. The vote came the day after El Salvador experienced its first day without a killing since imposing a state of emergency following a rash of gang violence last weekend.