El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says the government is considering a supervised early release plan for nearly 50 percent of gang prisoners.
SANSALVADOR: El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said Tuesday the government was considering the early release of prisoners arrested during the iron-fisted leader’s anti-gang crackdown.
More than 90,000 suspected gang members have been arrested in the Central American country since Bukele declared a state of emergency in 2022. The policy allows law enforcement to arrest people without a warrant.
The state of emergency has slashed crime rates to record lows, but rights groups have denounced abuses including a lack of due process for those arrested.
“We have a plan… that would benefit more or less 50 percent of prisoners in El Salvador who collaborated with gangs, through early release,” Bukele told reporters at a news conference.
He said the prisoners would be released “conditionally” and “under supervision.”
Bukele revealed the plan in response to a question from a journalist about social media posts that his brother Ibrajim Bukele made in April about an “independent commission” to review prisoners’ cases.
“We have absolutely no intention of keeping anyone in prison who is not guilty,” the president said in response.
Only around 8,000 of those arrested have been released after being found not guilty, according to official sources.