Latest news with #Chalatenango
Al Arabiya
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
El Salvador court sentences 3 ex-military officers over killings of Dutch journalists in 1982
Three former El Salvador military officers were given lengthy prison sentences late Thursday over the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the country's civil war. It means former Defense Minister Gen. José Guillermo García, 91, former treasury police director Col. Francisco Morán, 93, and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85, will likely die in custody. In the sentence seen by The Associated Press, the court imposed 15-year sentences requested by the prosecution cumulative for each victim, adding up to 60 years. However, the court will follow the maximum sentence allowed at the time of the killings, which was 30 years. The court also ordered President Nayib Bukele, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces, to issue a public apology to the victims' families. Last month, a jury convicted the three former officers after a trial that was closed to the public. García and Morán are under police guard at a private hospital in San Salvador, where they will serve out their sentences at their expense, the court ruled. Reyes Mena–who was the former army commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Chalatenango–lives in the US. In March, El Salvador's Supreme Court ordered that the extradition process be started to bring him back. 'Truth and justice have won over impunity, and this is a historic event for El Salvador,' said Oscar Pérez of the Fundación Comunicandonos, which represents the families. The Dutch TV journalists–Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag, and Joop Willemson–had linked up with leftist rebels and planned to spend several days behind rebel lines reporting. But Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns ambushed them and the guerrillas. The UN Truth Commission for El Salvador, which was set up as part of a UN-brokered peace agreement in 1992, concluded there was clear evidence that the killings were the result of an ambush set up by Reyes Mena with the knowledge of other officials based on an intelligence report that alerted of the journalists' presence. Other members of the military, including Gen. Rafael Flores Lima and Sgt. Mario Canizales Espinoza, were also accused of involvement but died. Canizales allegedly led the patrol that carried out the massacre of the journalists. An estimated 75,000 civilians were killed during El Salvador's civil war, mostly by US-backed government security forces.
The Independent
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
El Salvador court sentences 3 ex-military officers over killings of Dutch journalists in 1982
Three former El Salvador military officers were given lengthy prison sentences late Thursday over the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the country's civil war. It means former Defense Minister Gen. José Guillermo García, 91, former treasury police director Col. Francisco Morán, 93, and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85, will likely die in custody. In the sentence, seen by The Associated Press, the court imposed 15-year sentences requested by the prosecution cumulative for each victim, adding up to 60 years. However, the court will follow the maximum sentence allowed at the time of the killings, which was 30 years. The court also ordered President Nayib Bukele, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces, to issue a public apology to the victims' families. Last month, a jury convicted the three former officers after a trial that was closed to the public. García and Morán are under police guard at a private hospital in San Salvador, where they will serve out their sentences at their expense, the court ruled. Reyes Mena — who was the former army commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Chalatenango — lives in the United States. In March, El Salvador's Supreme Court ordered that the extradition process be started to bring him back. 'Truth and justice have won over impunity and this is a historic event for El Salvador,' said Oscar Pérez of the Fundación Comunicandonos, which represents the families. The Dutch TV journalists — Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemson — had linked up with leftist rebels and planned to spend several days behind rebel lines reporting. But Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns ambushed them and the guerrillas. The United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, which was set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992, concluded there was clear evidence that the killings were the result of an ambush set up by Reyes Mena with the knowledge of other officials, based on an intelligence report that alerted of the journalists' presence. Other members of the military, including Gen. Rafael Flores Lima and Sgt. Mario Canizales Espinoza were also accused of involvement, but died. Canizales allegedly led the patrol that carried out the massacre of the journalists. An estimated 75,000 civilians were killed during El Salvador's civil war, mostly by U.S.-backed government security forces.
Associated Press
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
El Salvador court sentences 3 ex-military officers over killings of Dutch journalists in 1982
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Three former El Salvador military officers were given lengthy prison sentences late Thursday over the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the country's civil war. It means former Defense Minister Gen. José Guillermo García, 91, former treasury police director Col. Francisco Morán, 93, and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85, will almost certainly die in jail. In the sentence, seen by The Associated Press, the court imposed 15-year sentences requested by the prosecution cumulative for each victim, adding up to 60 years. However, the court will follow the maximum sentence allowed at the time of the killings, which was 30 years. The court also ordered President Nayib Bukele, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces, to issue a public apology to the victims' families. Last month, a jury convicted the three officers after a trial that was closed to the public. García and Morán are under police guard at a private hospital in San Salvador, where they will serve out their sentences at their expense, the court ruled. Reyes Mena — who was the former army commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Chalatenango — lives in the United States. In March, El Salvador's Supreme Court ordered that the extradition process be started to bring him back. 'Truth and justice have won over impunity and this is a historic event for El Salvador,' said Oscar Pérez of the Fundación Comunicandonos, which represents the families. The Dutch TV journalists — Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemson — had linked up with leftist rebels and planned to spend several days behind rebel lines reporting. But Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns ambushed them and the guerrillas. The United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, which was set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992, concluded there was clear evidence that the killings were the result of an ambush set up by Reyes Mena with the knowledge of other officials, based on an intelligence report that alerted of the journalists' presence. Other members of the military, including Gen. Rafael Flores Lima and Sgt. Mario Canizales Espinoza were also accused of involvement, but died. Canizales allegedly led the patrol that carried out the massacre of the journalists. An estimated 75,000 civilians were killed during El Salvador's civil war, mostly by U.S.-backed government security forces.
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Top Salvadoran ex-military officers sentenced for wartime killing of Dutch journalists
A jury in El Salvador sentenced three retired high-ranking military officers to 15 years in prison for the murder of four Dutch journalists in 1982, one of the highest profile cases of the Central American nation's civil war. The three were charged on Tuesday for the killings of journalists Koos Joster, Jan Kuiper Joop, Johannes Jan Wilemsen and Hans ter Laag, who were reporting for IKON Television during a 1982 military ambush on a group of former Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas - some of whom were armed. A UN truth commission 11 years later found the ambush was 'deliberately planned to surprise and kill the journalists.' The trial was closed and details about the defendants' pleas and arguments were not made public. El Salvador's civil war stretched from 1980 to 1992, pitting leftist guerrillas against the US-backed Salvadoran army and leaving 75,000 people dead and 8,000 more missing. Former Defense Minister General Jose Guillermo Garcia was sentenced by a jury in the northern town of Chalatenango, alongside two colonels: former Treasury Police chief Francisco Moran and former infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes. All three - respectively aged 91, 93 and 85 - were sentenced in absentia. Garcia and Moran are in hospital under custody and Reyes currently lives in the United States though El Salvador is in the process of seeking his return. 'Truth and justice have prevailed, we have won,' Oscar Perez, a representative of the Comunicandonos Foundation that represents some of the relatives, told reporters. 'The victims are the focus now; not the perpetrators.' Prosecutors had requested the 15-year sentence, taking into account the military officers' age and health conditions. The jury also issued a civil condemnation to the Salvadoran state over the delay in delivering justice, a symbolic measure that obliges the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, President Nayib Bukele, to publicly ask for forgiveness from the victims' families.
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Top Salvadoran ex-military officers sentenced for wartime killing of Dutch journalists
A jury in El Salvador sentenced three retired high-ranking military officers to 15 years in prison for the murder of four Dutch journalists in 1982, one of the highest profile cases of the Central American nation's civil war. The three were charged on Tuesday for the killings of journalists Koos Joster, Jan Kuiper Joop, Johannes Jan Wilemsen and Hans ter Laag, who were reporting for IKON Television during a 1982 military ambush on a group of former Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas - some of whom were armed. A UN truth commission 11 years later found the ambush was 'deliberately planned to surprise and kill the journalists.' The trial was closed and details about the defendants' pleas and arguments were not made public. El Salvador's civil war stretched from 1980 to 1992, pitting leftist guerrillas against the US-backed Salvadoran army and leaving 75,000 people dead and 8,000 more missing. Former Defense Minister General Jose Guillermo Garcia was sentenced by a jury in the northern town of Chalatenango, alongside two colonels: former Treasury Police chief Francisco Moran and former infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes. All three - respectively aged 91, 93 and 85 - were sentenced in absentia. Garcia and Moran are in hospital under custody and Reyes currently lives in the United States though El Salvador is in the process of seeking his return. 'Truth and justice have prevailed, we have won,' Oscar Perez, a representative of the Comunicandonos Foundation that represents some of the relatives, told reporters. 'The victims are the focus now; not the perpetrators.' Prosecutors had requested the 15-year sentence, taking into account the military officers' age and health conditions. The jury also issued a civil condemnation to the Salvadoran state over the delay in delivering justice, a symbolic measure that obliges the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, President Nayib Bukele, to publicly ask for forgiveness from the victims' families.
