{"code":"26298","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"1670","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202208\/el_salvador\/26298","link_edit":"","name":"State of Exception Files: Hundreds Arrested for Prior Convictions or \u201cLooking Nervous\u201d","slug":"state-of-exception-files-hundreds-arrested-for-prior-convictions-or-ldquo-looking-nervous-rdquo-","info":"The grounds for hundreds of arrests provided in sealed court documents analyzed by El Faro include suspicious appearance, looking like a gang member, fitting a \u201cpolice profile,&quot; assault on a police officer, attempted escape, nervous appearance, social media reports, prior criminal records, and having tattoos.","mtag":"Violence","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/elemus'\u003E Efren Lemus\u003C\/span\u003E y \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/gcaceres'\u003E Gabriela C\u00e1ceres\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"efren-lemus":{"sort":"elemus","slug":"efren-lemus","path":"efren_lemus","name":"Efren Lemus","edge":"0","init":"0"},"gabriela-caceres":{"sort":"gcaceres","slug":"gabriela-caceres","path":"gabriela_caceres","name":"Gabriela C\u00e1ceres","edge":"1","init":"0"}}},"view":"1670","pict":{"cms-image-000037860-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37860","name":"cms-image-000037860.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037860.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037860.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037860-jpg","text":"<p>In rural municipalities like Tonacatepeque, police stopped all residents entering and leaving their homes in the first months of the state of exception, leading to arrests and police intimidation. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EIn rural municipalities like Tonacatepeque, police stopped all residents entering and leaving their homes in the first months of the state of exception, leading to arrests and police intimidation. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037859-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37859","name":"cms-image-000037859.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037859.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037859.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037859-jpg","text":"<p>In the first days of the state of exception, the jail known as El Penalito remained full due to the exponential growth in arrests. From there detainees were transferred to Izalco or Mariona Prison. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the first days of the state of exception, the jail known as El Penalito remained full due to the exponential growth in arrests. From there detainees were transferred to Izalco or Mariona Prison. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037858-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37858","name":"cms-image-000037858.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037858.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037858.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037858-jpg","text":"<p>Soldiers carry out a customary stop and search of residents of Distrito Italia in the municipality of Tonacatepeque. Police and the Armed forces blocked entry to the community amid multiple operations during the state of exception. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ESoldiers carry out a customary stop and search of residents of Distrito Italia in the municipality of Tonacatepeque. Police and the Armed forces blocked entry to the community amid multiple operations during the state of exception. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037857-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"37857","name":"cms-image-000037857.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037857.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037857.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037857-jpg","text":"<p>Police officers transfer a detainee during the state of exception after an interview with a public defender. April 25, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EPolice officers transfer a detainee during the state of exception after an interview with a public defender. April 25, 2022. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037856-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37856","name":"cms-image-000037856.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037856.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037856.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037856-jpg","text":"<p>Through August 2, authorities registered more than 48,000 arrests during the state of exception. Many report that their relatives were arbitrarily detained for having tattoos not even alluding to gangs. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EThrough August 2, authorities registered more than 48,000 arrests during the state of exception. Many report that their relatives were arbitrarily detained for having tattoos not even alluding to gangs. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037855-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37855","name":"cms-image-000037855.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037855.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037855.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037855-jpg","text":"<p>Rural Police agents during a prison transfer at El Penalito Jail. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ERural Police agents during a prison transfer at El Penalito Jail. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":37857,"date":{"live":"2022\/08\/08"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2022","data_post_dateLive_MM":"08","data_post_dateLive_DD":"08","text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202208\/el_salvador\/26318\/Los-expedientes-ocultos-del-R%C3%A9gimen-cientos-de-arrestos-por-%E2%80%9Cnerviosismo%E2%80%9D-y-%E2%80%9Cficha-policial%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELeer en espa\u00f1ol\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMelvin Reyes was arrested on Sunday, March 27, the same day the government declared a state of exception, and was accused of belonging to the Mara Salvatrucha. Twenty days later, a judge ordered his release. But just as he was to be set free, the police intervened and arrested him again, claiming their system had \u201cprofiled\u201d him as a gang member. Reyes is still in jail. He is one of more than 47,000 people rounded up since the government of El Salvador declared a state of exception four months ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAccording to four dossiers presented to the court by the Attorney General's Office and obtained by El Faro, the state of exception has allowed authorities to carry out \u201cinvestigations\u201d with no due diligence. The grounds for hundreds of arrests provided in 1251 pages of court documents analyzed by El Faro tend to repeat themselves: suspicious appearance, looking like a gang member, fitting a \u201cpolice profile\u201d of a gang member or gang collaborator, assault on a police officer, attempted escape, nervous appearance, reports from social media, prior criminal records, anonymous accusations, confessions, being a known gang member, having tattoos.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe files record the arrests of 690 people in the departments of San Vicente, La Paz, Caba\u00f1as, Cuscatl\u00e1n, La Libertad and Santa Ana, between March 27 and April 19, 2022. 518 of them had been profiled as gang members or collaborators prior to their arrest. It is impossible to determine the methodology used to create these profiles, when they were created, which investigators created them, and what evidence supports their assertions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EProsecutors petitioned the courts to seal the case files, arguing that they contain privileged information on the gangs obtained via wiretap, that releasing the information would put the lives of police and soldiers at risk, and that the press would \u201ctwist the information in order to provoke panic in the population.\u201d But in many cases, police state that they detained a subject first, and only later discovered a police intelligence file identified the individual as a gang member.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOne paragraph has been copied and pasted throughout the court filings: \"During a preventative patrol [officers] observed a subject and proceeded to stop them. After consulting the police intelligence database they found the subject has a profile as an active member of MS-13.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=37856 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Through August 2, authorities registered more than 48,000 arrests during the state of exception. Many report that their relatives were arbitrarily detained for having tattoos not even alluding to gangs. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Through August 2, authorities registered more than 48,000 arrests during the state of exception. Many report that their relatives were arbitrarily detained for having tattoos not even alluding to gangs. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe other 172 people had no previous record with the Department of Police Intelligence; instead, authorities used broad and ambiguous criteria to identify the accused gang members, claiming they were outed by \u201cthe public,\u201d on social media, or via anonymous complaints. Fifty people were charged with being gang members based on their \u201csuspicious\u201d or \u201cnervous\u201d appearance. Another 50 were arrested simply for having tattoos, though the police records did not specify whether the tattoos alluded to gangs. Authorities detained and sent 13 people to Izalco Prison without even identifying the cause of arrest in their court files.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe head of the police union, Marvin Reyes, claims to have documented 50 cases where police refused to make an arrest because they considered it \u201carbitrary.\u201d For four months under the state of exception, the rights to criminal defense, free association, and communications privacy have remained suspended. New penal code reforms also concealed judges\u2019 identities and now prohibit them from granting bail to alleged gang members accused of \u201cany crime.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Salvador\u2019s Minister of Security and Justice, Gustavo Villatoro, maintains that the state of exception has simply made it possible for authorities to more effectively punish gang members for the crimes they have committed: \u201cWhat is the lifeblood of the gangs? Murder, extorision, weapons, trafficking people and drugs. That is the multipronged criminal identity that we must confront with a single, unified force,\u201d Villatoro said on July 19 during a televised interview.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe confidential case files obtained by El Faro reveal that of the 690 individuals arrested, only ten were charged with drug possession (a few grams of marijuana or cocaine); two were charged with possessing a firearm; and a third was charged with both drug and firearm possession. An \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/insightcrime.org\/news\/el-salvador-arrests-thousands-gangs-keep-guns\/\"\u003Einvestigation from Insight Crime\u003C\/a\u003E found that while detentions exponentially grew, authorities seized just 134 rifles from January to June 2022. They confiscated 117 in the same span in 2021.\u00a0\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe measures instituted under El Salvador\u2019s ongoing state of exception have resulted not only in arbitrary detentions, but also in reported cases of torture, and at least 63 in-custody deaths according to human rights monitor Cristosal. Habeas corpus petitions filed with the Supreme Court of Justice have reached levels not seen since the end of the Civil War.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe documents reviewed by El Faro also contain a report by Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado to his subordinates, blaming the Mara Salvatrucha for the record wave of homicides in March that triggered the state of exception. \u201cThis systematic attack was orchestrated by the terrorist organization known as the Mara Salvatrucha and carried out through its rank and file membership, to commit homicides on a national scale,\u201d Delgado wrote. On May 14, El Faro revealed that the MS-13 killing spree was a direct result of the government of Nayib Bukele \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202205\/el_salvador\/26177\/Collapsed-Government-Talks-with-MS-13-Sparked-Record-Homicides-in-El-Salvador-Audios-Reveal.htm\"\u003Ebreaking a secret pact\u003C\/a\u003E it had maintained with the gang since 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ENone of the 690 people named in the four case files are accused of homicide, nor of aiding, abetting, or conspiring to commit any of the dozens of murders perpetrated in the aftermath of the collapse of the government-gang negotiations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro contacted the Attorney General\u2019s Office, Public Defender\u2019s Office, National Civil Police, and Ministry of Security and Justice for comment. None responded by publication time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EArrest First, Investigate Later\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn the moment [of making an arrest,] police create a criminal profile of the arrestee, so they have the person on file and can then claim that they\u2019re a gang collaborator,\u201d an investigator with the National Civil Police (PNC) told El Faro, speaking anonymously for fear of losing his job.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn one indictment against a group of 300 people, prosecutors accuse all 300 arrestees of belonging to the same criminal structure, despite having carried out the arrests in several different cities, and without offering evidence of communication between the accused or even witness testimony.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThe identities of those who created the criminal profiles do not appear in any document, under the pretense of protecting confidential police intelligence,\u201d the PNC investigator said. \u201cSome people had never even been profiled as gang members before, but [the police] just say they are, and then apply the decree [the state of exception].\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis claim is corroborated by the leader of El Salvador\u2019s police union (MTP): \u201cWe know of cases where people had no connection to the gangs, but police just created profiles on the spot, making up aliases for them and everything. And this has caused some tension among agents.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAgents who refused to carry out arrests they considered arbitrary have been threatened with transfer to remote parts of the country, or with increased working hours. The police union has so far reported three agents who were actually arrested and prosecuted for refusing to carry out orders \u2014 specifically, for refusing to create a gang profile on a disabled person in Soyapango, a working-class suburb of San Salvador.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EReyes and the police investigator are not the only officials who describe practices under the state of exception as \u201carrest first, investigate later.\u201d Bureau of Prisons director Osiris Luna admitted in a July 26 television interview that thousands are being held behind bars with no evidence having been presented against them yet. \u201cOne percent of all those arrested, who are not part of the gang structures, are currently under investigation by intelligence and investigation agencies, and if they are found innocent, they will be released,\u201d Luna said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThroughout the state of exception, authorities have relied on profiles created by police intelligence or pulled from police archives. In their arguments before the court, prosecutors submit records of interrogation interviews, along with identity documents of the arrestees. No other evidence is included. \u201cThe Attorney General\u2019s Office is not individualizing the cases,\u201d said one of the sources who provided the case files to El Faro. \u201cAnd the most concerning part is that they\u2019re arresting people simply for \u2018looking suspicious.\u2019 The police are just applying the state of exception whenever they feel like it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe broad discretion given to the police under the state of exception has started to affect the police themselves, according to the anonymous investigator who spoke with El Faro. \u201cWe have eight cases involving family members of police officers whose brother, son, nephew, brother-in-law, etc. have been taken away,\u201d Reyes says, \u201c[Police] are using the state of exception to carry out vendettas [among themselves] \u2014 all they have to do is call someone a gang collaborator.\u201d\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=37858 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Soldiers carry out a customary stop and search of residents of Distrito Italia in the municipality of Tonacatepeque. Police and the Armed forces blocked entry to the community amid multiple operations during the state of exception. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Soldiers carry out a customary stop and search of residents of Distrito Italia in the municipality of Tonacatepeque. Police and the Armed forces blocked entry to the community amid multiple operations during the state of exception. Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EGeovany P\u00e9rez Mozo, a sergeant with the Armed Forces, spent 22 days working to enforce the state of exception. On April 18, he was given a 24-hour break and was at his home in San Bartolom\u00e9 Perulap\u00eda, Cuscatl\u00e1n, when five agents with the National Civil Police knocked on his door, handcuffed him, and hauled him away. According to the indictment, submitted by prosecutors before a judge in San Salvador, the sergeant \u201cwas found to have a profile identifying him as an active member of MS-13, for which he was charged with illicit association.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe indictment that led to Sergeant P\u00e9rez Mozo\u2019s ongoing confinement in \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202207\/ef_photo\/26254\/Business-and-Misery-Outside-El-Salvador's-Prisons.htm\"\u003EMariona Prison\u003C\/a\u003E is only three sentences long and is based entirely on assertions made by the police. El Faro reviewed P\u00e9rez Mozo\u2019s police profile and determined that the sergeant\u2019s alleged ties to the gang was based on a family connection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe police say P\u00e9rez Mozo is a gang member because one of his cousins is a gang member.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe sergeant is the cousin of No\u00e9 Efra\u00edn P\u00e9rez Mozo, a 25-year-old Salvadoran accused of leading a cell of MS-13. Per the dossiers obtained by El Faro, a protected witness identified Noe Efra\u00edn as a gang member and alleged that his cousin, Sergeant P\u00e9rez Mozo, had helped supply the gang with military uniforms and ammunition. In July 2021, nearly a year before the the state of exception began, police arrested No\u00e9 Efra\u00edn on charges of homicide and belonging to a terrorist organization, while the sergeant is being held on charges of gang collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EP\u00e9rez Mozo, first accused of gang ties in May 2020, had already faced two prosecutions for his alleged involvement with MS-13: one in criminal court, the other in military court. He won both cases. In the criminal case, the judge determined that the prosecution\u2019s evidence was insufficient, and acquitted P\u00e9rez Mozo of all charges; the judge in the military court closed the case, and P\u00e9rez Mozo was allowed to continue serving with the Armed Forces. Then, while he was working his new assignment under the state of exception, the police arrested him again.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe \u201cCrime\u201d of Having a Record\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EUnder the state of exception, police have arrested people for having been arrested in the past, regardless of the outcome of their old cases. People previously exonerated are finding themselves in custody once again. Others who were convicted of a crime in the past, but had already served their sentence, have been rearrested and charged with the same crime they were convicted of years ago, or a crime very similar to it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe case files obtained by El Faro include at least 44 people arrested precisely for that reason. Uber driver Edwin Edenilson Mendoza Villegas, for example, was tried and exonerated for extortion in 2009 by a San Salvador court. But on April 1, 2022, officers in Cojutepeque brought him to the police station under the guise of checking on a \u201croutine matter,\u201d and then detained him on charges of associating with criminal groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOthers have been rearrested while serving sentences for past convictions, despite the Salvadoran constitution\u2019s prohibition of double jeopardy. Edgar Antonio Ayala Alfaro and Jos\u00e9 Jonathan Cruz Cruz confessed to being members of MS-13 and were convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization. The judge in Cojutepeque sentenced them to community service cleaning and collecting garbage in the municipalities of San Sebasti\u00e1n and Cojutepeque, in the department of Cuscatl\u00e1n. While completing their sentence, both men were arrested under the state of exception, for the crime of illicit association.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=37855 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Rural Police agents during a prison transfer at El Penalito Jail. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Rural Police agents during a prison transfer at El Penalito Jail. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAyala Alfaro was detained on March 28, 2022, while cleaning the San Sebasti\u00e1n market as part of his court-mandated community service. Police reported that he was not committing any crime at the time of his arrest. A statement signed by Walter Henr\u00edquez, head of the municipal public works department, reads as follows: \u201cThat day, [Ayala Alfaro] had been assigned to clean the municipal market starting at 8:00 a.m., which was the aforementioned young man\u2019s normal daily schedule. While he was fulfilling his community service obligation, at 11 a.m. the police approached him, placed him in handcuffs, and took him away.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe evidence used to imprison hundreds of people profiled in the case files obtained by El Faro is insufficient to prove the crime of illicit association, according to a judge with expertise in organized crime who spoke to El Faro on condition of anonymity, for reasons of security. \u201cIt\u2019s a mistake, and now we have a regime that bases its prosecutions, not on evidence, but on criminal records \u2014 on past crimes rather than current ones,\u201d the judge said. The Attorney General\u2019s Office, the judge added, must submit detailed evidence demonstrating ties to a criminal organization, such as testimony from a cooperating witness \u2014 someone providing testimony in exchange for a plea agreement, as is common in cases involving gangs \u2014 or a wiretap recording that indicates active involvement in gang activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EPrison Director Osiris Luna publicly defends a different course of action. \u201cNo gang member will ever leave prison again,\u201d Luna said during the televised interview on July 26. The host asked Luna if he was talking about people who had already served their sentence. \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Luna replied. \u201cIf someone steps one foot outside prison, he\u2019s already committed a crime\u2026 right then and there, we\u2019ll arrest him under the state of exception and send him right back behind bars as a gang member.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp style=\"text-align: right;\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003E*Translated by Max Granger\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}