El Salvador: former president Funes sentenced to 14 years in prison

A court in El Salvador has sentenced former President Mauricio Funes and his justice minister to more than ten years in prison for their ties to criminal groups and failure to fulfill duties.

The Prosecutor General’s Office announced this on Monday (29).

Funes was sentenced to 14 years, and his former justice and defense minister, David Munguia, was sentenced to 18 years.

“We were able to prove that these two former officials, who had an obligation to protect Salvadorans, negotiated their lives in exchange for electoral benefits by acting as gang members,” Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said on Twitter.

“Those involved in backroom deals at the expense of the blood of Salvadorans were sentenced to pay in prison for the damage done to society,” Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro said on Twitter.

Funes, who governed from 2009 to 2014 and lived in Nicaragua, was granted Nicaraguan citizenship in 2019.

Nicaragua’s constitution stipulates that no citizen can be deported.

Munguia was first arrested in 2020 on suspicion of unlawful association and other crimes related to the alleged agreement of a truce between gangs to reduce the number of murders in exchange for undisclosed benefits to criminal organizations.

As he left the hearing, Munguia told reporters that he believed his conviction was politically based and the charges unfounded.

El Salvador has lived under a state of emergency imposed by the government of President Nayib Bukele for more than a year.

The measure, which has led to the arrest of more than 68,000 suspected gang members, is popular among Salvadorans.

However, it has been criticized by human rights groups, which cite arbitrary arrests, torture and deaths of detainees in custody.

Officials say 5,000 prisoners have been released because authorities could not prove links to criminal groups.

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