You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

El Salvador Court Orders Prominent Anti-Corruption Lawyer Jailed for 6 Months Ahead of Trial

HeadlineJun 05, 2025

In El Salvador, a judge has ordered the detention of prominent anti-corruption lawyer Ruth López for six months while she awaits trial. She was arrested last month over allegations of embezzlement — charges she says are trumped-up. On Wednesday, López shouted to reporters as she was led into a courtroom in handcuffs for a closed-door hearing.

Ruth López: “I want a public trial! The people deserve to know. Whoever doesn’t owe, doesn’t fear.”

Ruth López is the head of the anti-corruption and justice unit at Cristosal, a leading Salvadoran human rights group that has frequently criticized the policies of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top