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El Salvador: Top court - Gangs will be treated as terrorist

EL SALVADOR’S Supreme Court declared on Monday that street gangs and those who finance them would be considered terrorist groups.

The court said the notorious Marasalvatrucha or MS-13 gang and any other attempting to claim powers that belonged to the state would be treated as terrorists.

It defined terrorism as organised and systematic violence.

Four legal attempts have been made to have the country’s Special Law Against Terrorist Acts declared unconstitutional, but Monday’s announcement has put an end to the campaign.

The court found that, among other issues, telephone wiretaps and fund freezes for individuals linked to terrorist groups were constitutional.

In related news, Attorney General Luis Martinez has said that the killing of 14 gang members in western Quezaltepeque prison over the weekend had been carried out on instructions from inside San Francisco Gotera prison in the country’s east.

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