El Salvador holds mass trial for 486 alleged gang members

A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, one of the biggest mass trials under President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers

A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, one of the biggest mass trials under President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers.

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Prosecutors say the charges against alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13, span more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend that was El Salvador‘s bloodiest since its civil war.

The charges include homicide, femicide, extortion and arms trafficking.