source: Els Salvador Now
Alejandro Henríquez and José Ángel Pérez are being prosecuted for the alleged crimes of public disorder and aggravated resistance. The investigation phase is now scheduled to conclude in December 2025.
Santa Tecla’s Second Investigating Court extended the investigation phase against Alejandro Henríquez, an attorney and member of the Foro del Agua (Water Forum), and José Ángel Pérez, a pastor and community leader, by three months. As a result, this stage is now set to conclude in December 2025.
Defense attorneys confirmed the court’s decision to LA PRENSA GRÁFICA, as did the organization Foro del Agua, which announced the decision on its accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The organization called the decision “unjust” and “arbitrary,” as it lengthens both men’s time in custody without any evidence of their alleged crimes.
“Alejandro and José Ángel will remain in pretrial detention for three more months. The Santa Tecla Investigating Court has extended the investigation phase, thereby prolonging this unjust and arbitrary detention,” Foro del Agua stated on its social media.
Pérez and Henríquez were ordered into the investigation phase with pretrial detention as a precautionary measure by Santa Tecla’s First Peace Court, following a hearing on May 30 of this year. Both men are accused of the alleged crimes of public disorder and aggravated resistance.
Separately, the Fourth Criminal Chamber of the Central Section of Santa Tecla denied the appeal filed by the defense attorneys for Pérez and Henríquez against the detention order issued by Santa Tecla’s First Peace Court.
On July 2, Amnesty International (AI) declared López, attorney Alejandro Henríquez, and community leader José Ángel Pérez to be “prisoners of conscience” in “a context of growing repression,” and demanded their immediate release.
