Detainees are moved out of a police detention center by a police officer after El Salvador's Congress approved on Sunday emergency powers that temporarily suspended some constitutional protections after the country recorded a sharp rise in killings attributed to criminal gangs, in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 30, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's gang lords and their followers will face prison sentences ranging from 20 to 45 years under penal reforms passed by Congress on Wednesday in the wake of 89 registered murders, allegedly by groups like MS-13, over the weekend.
President Nayib Bukele's administration invoked emergency powers on Sunday to temporarily suspend or restrict some constitutional protections like free assembly after 62 murders on Saturday alone. Security and human rights experts said it was the most murders in one day so far this century.
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