This Thursday, in an interview with Julio Villagrán on Encuentro, political analyst Héctor Silva said that he received the most severe sentence for the crimes of slander and defamation, the lawsuit for which was filed by the deputy of Nuevas Ideas, Christian Guevara.
In addition, Silva was fined $50,000 in civil liability. He mentioned that the accusing party did not present any documents confirming the crimes, and therefore described the process as irregular.
“I was sentenced in a process that was absolutely irregular from the beginning. There was a hearing in which I was forced to participate with public defenders because I was not given time to choose a defense of my choice… Now any citizen who dares to question an official who has power runs the risk of being criminalized, because that is how these types of sentences work now.” Silva said.
The analyst also pointed out that citizens’ freedom of expression has gradually deteriorated, and that those who defend the truth are punished and those who are questioned become protected.
“I would not be surprised to see that in the coming months or years when a citizen dares to question an official regarding his business, attitudes or whatever, this ruling might be used as a precedent to criminalize this person.” said Hector Silva.
Silva stressed that in El Salvador a tradition of fear is being cultivated based on the arbitrary abuse of power in all its spheres. With this, he highlighted the case of Carolina Recinos and other public officials, who despite accusations and sanctions for acts of corruption, continue to maintain their positions in the current government.
“We have seen journalistic investigations that point to officials stealing food packages, these officials remain in those positions… they mention the case of Mrs. Recinos, she has already been sanctioned, she was the first high-ranking official of this government to be sanctioned for a complaint that we filed.” said the analyst.
Finally, he questioned the Attorney General’s Office, which is currently not independent and which follows government guidelines, mentioning the cases of dangerous members of criminal structures who, according to investigations, have been released by the Salvadoran state.
“I don’t know if there is anyone in this country who really believes that the Attorney General’s Office remains independent. We have heard audio recordings of government officials who admit that they have taken gang members out of jail, where are those investigations?” the political analyst said.
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