“My health has deteriorated, but here we come with concern, but also with faith and hope,” were the words that Raul Mijango said as he faced a special hearing at the Judicial Center, in which a court Will decide what to do or not to grant him early release.
The hearing was conducted by the First Court of Prison Monitoring and Sentence Execution of San Salvador, but the prosecutor’s office requested a report from the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security (ISSS), where Mijango receives medical treatment. Because of this, the court has not given its verdict yet.
“I am requesting Mr. Mijango’s probation. The result is technically rare, because what I am requesting is humane probation because my client meets a series of requirements that the law requires, among others between, that a third of the sentence, that he is over 60 years of age and it has also been proven that he suffers from three serious and irreversible diseases,” said Mauricio Ramirez, the defendant’s defender.
As described by the lawyer, he has proved that his client is suffering from diabetes, chronic renal failure and high blood pressure. “The court does not give conditions, it only requests reports and it will be social security that will take its time and I hope it will be quick because of the health condition of my client as it is practically playing with his health condition. doing.” And their life, which is extremely dangerous,” Ramirez said.
The defender says that Mijango has been transferred to the hospital four times in the past two months and in one of these he was hospitalized for 13 days, “The health condition of my client is serious,” he explained.
For his part, Mijango, who was one of the mediators between the gangs that took place between 2011 and 2013 in the government of Mauricio Funes, confirmed upon arrival at the judicial center that he suffers from kidney failure and that “his life depends is “on a machine”. The defendant presented a letter to the court but did not receive it because it was not certified. According to his defense attorney, in the letter he asked the judge to allow him to go home and release him. Said for
Punishment and other procedures
On October 12, 2018, the Specialized Sentencing Court B of San Salvador found Raul Mijango guilty of the crime of extortion and sentenced him to 13 years and 4 months in prison.
The judge assessed evidence presented by the prosecutor’s office that linked the former mediator of a cease-fire between the gangs with the extortion of a rice company.
The prosecutor’s office accused Mijango of intervening with gang leaders to change the way they extorted money from the company. According to the allegation, he ordered cash payments to go away in the areas where he distributed the product, extorting $6,000 in products to be distributed equally to the three most numerous gangs: Mara Salvatrucha and the two gangs of Barrio 18. (Revolutionarios and Surenos).
Furthermore, Mijango is tried for murder and given a certain dismissal; He was also accused by illegal groups in the Trugua case, but received an acquittal and was eventually tried and acquitted for smuggling prohibited goods.
