Salvador: the state of emergency extended for a month to fight against gangs
President Nayib Bukele during the speech of the bicentenary of the independence of El Salvador, on September 15 in San Salvador.
© AFP/presidency press office
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The state of emergency, established since March 27 in El Salvador, was extended for a month on Sunday April 24.
It was set up as part of the fight against gangs.
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"
The extension of the emergency regime
" is made necessary "
by the persistence of the circumstances which motivated
it", that is to say the fight against gangs, according to the decree-law adopted by the Legislative Assembly of
Salvador
on Sunday.
Since its introduction a month ago, the state of emergency has allowed authorities to arrest 16,000 gang members without warrants.
“
Over
16,000 terrorists removed from the streets in just 29 days.
We continue the war against the gangs
,”
tweeted President Nayib Bukele.
In addition to the possibility of no longer having recourse to warrants, this exceptional regime also makes it possible to restrict freedom of association and the rights of the defence, extends the period of detention during the investigation and allows the interception of communications.
It is particularly against the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, which have 70,000 members, of whom 32,000 are currently imprisoned, that the authorities are fighting.
Since the introduction of the state of emergency, such a number of arrests is unprecedented in the last 30 years in this country.
Nayib Bukele
has declared war on gangs
operating in his territory after
the killing of 87 people
between March 25 and 27, crimes that authorities have attributed to these criminal groups.
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