Five Salvadorian environmental defenders will face a retrial on charges linked to a killing during the civil war, despite being previously exonerated. The court found insufficient evidence linking them to any crime. Their arrest is seen as politically motivated, particularly amid fears that President Nayib Bukele seeks to overturn protective mining laws. The retrial will be held in a different jurisdiction, which has raised suspicions of bias, and no new evidence can be presented. Meanwhile, public opposition to mining remains strong, with recent polls indicating broad disapproval of a return to mining practices.
The attorney general, a close political ally of Bukele, successfully appealed the verdict in early December, and the men face a retrial on the same charges of murder and illicit association.
The state cannot introduce new evidence or witnesses at the retrial, which opens on Monday 3 February, but the appeals court judges ordered this unusual retrial.
Collection
[
|
...
]