El Salvador Plans 600 Mass Trials For Suspected Gang Members

President Nayib Bukele, who describes himself as "the world's coolest dictator," in the White House earlier this year (Credit: AFP)

El Salvador plans to hold around 600 mass trials for the tens of thousands suspected gang members who have been detained without charges in the country since 2022, the Central American country's attorney general said Thursday.

Over 80,000 Salvadorans have been detained -- some of whom human rights defenders maintain are innocent -- since gang-busting President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency three years ago that allowed arrests without warrants.