A supporter holds a sign of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, as he waits for him to arrive to deliver a speech at an event, to mark the first year of Bukele’s second term in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2025. REUTERS
SAN SALVADOR — A Salvadoran court on Tuesday ordered the continued pretrial detention of a lawyer and outspoken critic of President Nayib Bukele over charges of alleged money laundering.
Enrique Anaya, a 61-year-old constitutional lawyer, is one of several critics of the Salvadoran leader arrested in recent weeks in what human rights organizations have described as an offensive to silence dissent.
“Unfortunately the result was not what we expected,” Anaya’s lawyer Jaime Quintanilla said following a court hearing in the capital San Salvador. “Enrique will remain detained.”
READ: Bukele rules out returning migrant, in love-fest with Trump
The proceedings against Anaya, who is diabetic, are being conducted under seal, so details of the case are not clearly known, said his lawyer, who stressed the decision would be appealed.
The Supreme Court meanwhile indicated on Saturday it had agreed to examine a habeas corpus petition filed by Anaya challenging the legality of his detention.
Anaya, who is also a columnist and analyst, has publicly criticized the government’s actions.
He has called Nayib a “dictator” and criticized his February 2024 reelection, greenlighted by the allied Supreme Court despite a constitutional ban on back-to-back terms.
READ: Salvadoran Church leader to Bukele: Don’t turn country into US prison
In recent weeks four other Bukele critics have been detained in the Central American nation, including fellow lawyer Ruth Lopez, head of an anti-corruption unit of human rights NGO Cristosal.
Lopez stands accused of embezzling state funds when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago. /dl
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