Salvadorian, who was sentenced to thirty years in prison for expulsion after being tried for abortion described as “homicide with aggravating circumstances”, was released yesterday Wednesday, after ten years in prison, after the change of her sentence.
“We are celebrating that Elsie has regained her freedom after ten years behind bars. “Her unjust sentence of thirty years in prison for aggravated murder has come to an end,” Morena Herrera, president of the Citizens’ Organization for the Decriminalization of Abortion (ACDATEE), said in a press release.
Elsie, 38, who has been released just to protect her privacy, is serving a sentence in a women’s prison near Sakatekulka, about 50 miles (50 km) southeast of San Salvador.
According to ACDATEE, the domestic worker, then 28 years old, was abducted on June 15, 2011 and was immediately taken into custody.
“The trial was marred by irregularities, procedural guarantees were not met, the presumption of innocence was not respected and he was arrested immediately,” the organization said.
She is the fifth woman to be released since December, after Karen, Kathy and Evelyn, who have all served prison sentences for “aggravated homicide” after being released. Kenya was released from prison on January 17 after serving nine of the 30 years in prison on suspicion of abortion.
Elsie is the 61st to be released since 2009.
She will be able to meet again with her son, who “only has her”, the organization stressed.
In the last 20 years, 181 women have been prosecuted in El Salvador for such cases. The Salvadoran Penal Code has strictly prohibited abortion since 1998, in all cases without exception, even if the life of the expectant mother or child is in danger, and provides for a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Prosecutors and judges, however, often characterize even unintentional dismissals as “premeditated homicides with aggravating circumstances”, a charge that carries a sentence of 30 to 50 years in prison.
The director general of the Women’s Equality Center, Paula Avila-Giyen, called on Salvador’s president, Najib Bouquetle, to “release all other innocent people” serving prison sentences for such cases. It is estimated that there are now 12 women in prison who have been convicted of abortion violations.
In November, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that El Salvador had violated the rights of Manuela, who had been convicted of “aggravated murder” and had died in prison.
“We must continue to fight tirelessly for those who are deprived of their freedom to regain their freedom,” said Morena Herrera, ACDATEE president.
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