A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged members and leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha criminal gang, known as MS-13. This mass trial is one of the largest conducted under President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence, which utilizes controversial emergency powers.
Prosecutors state that the charges against the defendants span more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022. These charges include thousands of murders and events from a weekend that was El Salvador’s bloodiest since its civil war.
Human rights groups have criticized the practice of collective trials, warning that these prosecutions violate due process and prevent defendants from accessing legal counsel.