Environmental lawyer and human rights defender Alejandro Henríquez, along with Pastor José Ángel Pérez, a leader of a rural farming community, were released after spending seven months in prison for taking part in a peaceful protest in El Salvador. The demonstration called on president Nayib Bukele to halt the eviction of more than 300 families from the El Bosque agricultural cooperative.
Their release came after the Second Court of Instruction of Santa Tecla approved an abbreviated criminal procedure, under which Henríquez and Pérez accepted the facts alleged by the Office of the Attorney General (FGR), without the case advancing to trial.
Both men were sentenced to three years in prison —two years for aggravated resistance and one year for public disorder. The sentence was substituted with conditions, including a travel ban and restrictions on participating in protest activities.
Pastor Ángel Pérez was arrested on May 12, after the Military Police dispersed a peaceful demonstration held near the Los Sueños residential complex, where the Salvadoran president lives. The following day, Henríquez —an environmental lawyer providing legal assistance to the cooperative members— was also detained.
Seven months later, following their release, defense attorney Oswaldo Feusier said accepting the abbreviated procedure was a strategic decision made in the absence of judicial guarantees.
“There was no real investigation: the exculpatory evidence was never assessed, and more than 15 witnesses we presented were never interviewed. The prosecution agreed to an outcome that allowed them to secure a conviction and, for us, meant regaining our clients’ freedom,” he said.
Feusier stressed that neither Henríquez nor Pérez admitted to committing any crime and that the version of events presented by prosecutors does not constitute a criminal offense. Both were sentenced to three years in prison, a penalty that was replaced with conditions under the legal mechanism of suspended sentence execution.
After leaving the Integrated Judicial Center of Santa Tecla, Pastor Ángel Pérez expressed gratitude for his release. “It is the greatest blessing. I owe everything to God. Thank you to everyone who supported us,” he said.
‼️José Ángel Pérez, pastor y presidente de la cooperativa El Bosque, abraza a su familia tras recuperar la libertad, luego de permanecer 7 meses detenido por acompañar una manifestación pacífica contra el desalojo de las familias de la cooperativa. pic.twitter.com/b3OZe3Sw8b
— Revista GatoEncerrado (@GatoEncerradoSV) December 17, 2025
Henríquez said the legal process he faced was harsh and that he has been barred from participating in demonstrations. “We accepted the abbreviated process because it was the only legal option available. The prosecution allowed it, and we took it. I will undoubtedly continue defending human rights and supporting communities that suffer land and water dispossession,” he said.
Henríquez added that he will be prohibited from taking part in public demonstrations and similar activities for a period of three years.
Global human rights organization Amnesty International welcomed the release of Henríquez and Ángel Pérez, whom it had declared “prisoners of conscience,” arguing that they were imprisoned solely for exercising their right to peaceful protest.
“We celebrate that Alejandro Henríquez and José Ángel Pérez are now free. However, in El Salvador other human rights defenders and critical voices—such as Ruth López, Fidel Zavala, and Enrique Anaya—remain criminalized for exercising their rights,” the organization said.
Amnesty reiterated its call to end arbitrary prosecutions and to release all individuals detained solely for peacefully raising their voices.
The peaceful protest in which Henríquez and Pastor Ángel Pérez participated sought to secure President Bukele’s support to halt the eviction of 300 families from the El Bosque agricultural cooperative, located in Santa Tecla, La Libertad, last May.
According to media reports, El Bosque farmers staged a peaceful sit-in at the roundabout leading to the Los Sueños residential complex—where Bukele lives—in an effort to draw his attention, believing he was the only authority capable of stopping the eviction.
However, on May 12, President Bukele responded with repression. Officers from the Military Police and the Public Order Maintenance Unit surrounded the demonstrators and asked for the community’s leaders, saying they wanted to take them in a patrol vehicle to “talk.”
When the community refused, authorities began to encircle, push, and pepper spray the farmers, women, and children.
In addition to criminalizing community leaders, Bukele blamed civil society organizations for the El Bosque protest and pushed for a controversial Foreign Agents Law. The legislation imposes a 30% tax on all funding and donations received by organizations, requires mandatory registration, restricts their operations, and threatens sanctions. According to NGOs, the aim is to force them into silence or eventual closure.
Ayer fuimos testigos de cómo personas humildes fueron manipuladas por grupos autodenominados de izquierda y ONG globalistas, cuyo único objetivo real es atacar al gobierno.
La presencia coordinada de medios, el acarreo evidente y los banners impresos profesionalmente lo…
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 13, 2025
The El Bosque cooperative was founded in the 1980s as part of El Salvador’s agrarian reform, which transferred more than 305,000 hectares of land to farming families in an effort to reduce extreme land concentration. However, community members have reported being victims of fraud by an agronomist and legal representative of the company Proyectos e Inversiones (PROYIN S.A. de C.V.), a case dating back to 1998.
The arrests of Henríquez and Ángel Pérez were condemned by international organizations, which argued they occurred amid a broader campaign of persecution against environmental activists, human rights defenders, and critics of President Bukele’s government throughout 2025.
Featured image: Alejandro Henríquez and José Ángel Pérez
Image credit: MalaYerba via Amnesty International.
