El Salvador’s mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 gang members under Bukele’s anti-gang crackdown
Consensus Summary
El Salvador is conducting a historic mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 gang members, accused of 47,000 crimes including 29,000 homicides between 2012 and 2022. The trial, part of President Nayib Bukele’s controversial anti-gang crackdown, uses video links from prisons like CECOT and anonymous judges to impose collective sentences. Bukele declared a state of emergency in 2022 after a surge in violence, leading to over 91,000 arrests and a sharp drop in homicides, though human rights groups warn of due process violations, torture, and wrongful convictions. Prosecutors seek maximum sentences, while critics like Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemn the lack of legal defenses and extended detentions under emergency powers.
✓ Verified by 2+ sources
Key details reported by multiple sources:
- A mass trial began in El Salvador on April 21–22, 2026, involving 486 alleged MS-13 gang members charged with 47,000 crimes, including 29,000 homicides, between 2012 and 2022.
- The trial includes MS-13’s national leadership, street-level leaders, program coordinators, and founders, with defendants participating via video link from prisons like the CECOT mega-prison in Tecoluca.
- President Nayib Bukele declared a ‘war’ on gangs in 2022 after MS-13 was accused of killing 87 people in a single weekend in March 2022, claiming gangs controlled 80% of Salvadoran territory.
- Bukele imposed a state of emergency in 2022, leading to over 91,000 arrests of suspected gang members, though thousands were later declared innocent.
- MS-13 and Barrio 18 are accused of operating drug trafficking and extortion rackets across Central America, with the U.S. designating them as terrorist organizations.
- Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Cristosal have criticized the mass trials, warning of risks to innocent defendants and due process violations.
- The trial uses anonymous judges to hand down one-size-fits-all sentences to large groups of defendants.
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights warned that the state of emergency suspends rights to legal defense and extends administrative detention timelines.
- Prosecutors seek maximum sentences (up to 245 years per defendant for multiple charges) based on evidence including autopsies, ballistic analyses, and witness testimony.
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- Bukele is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has used the terrorist designation to justify military strikes on alleged drug-running boats.
- Bukele accused MS-13 of murdering 200,000 people over three decades, including 80,000 disappearances.
- Over 500 deaths in prison have been reported under Bukele’s crackdown.
- The gangs originated among Salvadoran youth in Los Angeles before spreading back to El Salvador.
- Footage released by the Attorney-General’s Office shows over 100 men in white T-shirts and face masks attending the trial via video link from CECOT prison.
- United Nations experts warned that mass hearings undermine the right to defense and presumption of innocence.
- The homicide rate dropped from 7.8 per 100,000 in 2022 to 1.3 in 2025 under Bukele’s crackdown.
- Some defendants include alleged gang leaders who participated in the 2012–2014 truce between the government and gangs during Mauricio Funes’ presidency.
- Congress passed a decree allowing for mass trials under the state of emergency.
Where the reporting differs
Details that conflict, or appear in only some outlets:
- The Guardian states the homicide rate dropped to 1.3 per 100,000 in 2025, while ABC and NEWSCOMAU do not specify a year for the rate but imply a dramatic decrease without a precise figure.
- ABC and NEWSCOMAU mention 91,000 arrests under the state of emergency, while the Guardian states 91,500 arrests, a slight discrepancy in the total number.
Source Articles
El Salvador holds mass trial of alleged gang members for 29,000 murders
The attorney-general says 486 suspected MS-13 members have faced trial for 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022.
Mass trial for 486 alleged gang members begins
Footage shows rows of men sitting in prison as a mass trial of 486 suspected members of a powerful gang accused of 29,000 homicides begins.
El Salvador holds mass trial for 486 alleged members of notorious MS-13 gang
Human rights groups have warned that the collective prosecutions violate due process and block defendants from accessing legal counsel A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, in one of the biggest mass trials under president Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers. 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 2
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