El Salvador plans mass trials for those imprisoned in gang crackdown

By MARCOS ALEMÁN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — New rules passed by El Salvador’s congress will allow courts to try accused gang members in group trials, in an effort to expedite tens of thousands of criminal cases for those detained under the country’s crackdown on street gangs. The rules adopted Wednesday allow trials for groups of people based on what area they lived in and what “clique” — a smaller group within a gang — controlled that territory. The legislations also increase prison time for those found to be gang leaders from 45 years to 60. Nearly 72,000 people accused of being in gangs have been jammed into prisons since the crackdown began last year, fueling waves of accusations of human rights violations.