STORY: Hundreds of alleged gang leaders sat before television screens inside El Salvador's notorious CECOT mega-prison on Thursday (April 23) as a mass virtual trial got underway, with inmates handcuffed and ankle-chained.

A Salvadoran court this week began trying more than 486 alleged leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, known as MS-13, in a case involving over 47,000 crimes prosecutors say were committed between 2012 and 2022.

Charges include homicide, feminicide, extortion, arms trafficking, forced disappearances and rebellion, with prosecutors alleging the defendants sought to establish a parallel state through territorial control.

CECOT's director, Belarmino Garcia, said those being tried were among the most dangerous figures in the criminal organisation.

The 486 defendants are held across five prisons, with the majority detained at CECOT, the maximum-security facility opened by President Nayib Bukele's administration in 2023 that has become a symbol of El Salvador's sweeping crackdown on gang violence.

Human rights groups have described conditions there as inhumane, with allegations of torture, round-the-clock surveillance, and no outside contact permitted - including access to legal counsel.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Hundreds of alleged gang members in El Salvador's mega-prison face justice in virtual mass trial

VIDEO SHOWS: INMATES SITTING IN FRONT OF TELEVISIONS DURING VIRTUAL HEARING / SOUNDBITES FROM CECOT PRISON OFFICIAL

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: SAN VICENTE, EL SALVADOR (APRIL 23, 2026) (REUTERS - Access All)

1. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS SITTING IN FRONT OF TELEVISIONS DURING VIRTUAL HEARING

2. HANDCUFFED INMATE

3. VARIOUS OF INMATES DURING HEARING

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF THE TERRORISM CONFINEMENT CENTRE (CECOT), BELARMINO GARCIA, SAYING:

"The type of inmates being processed here are members of the criminal structure MS-13, a terrorist criminal organization. The subjects here are those historic gang leaders, leaders of gang cells, gang spokesmen, individuals who for many years caused mourning and pain to our society."

5. TELEVISIONS AND SPEAKERS BROADCASTING HEARING

6. VARIOUS OF INMATES LOOKING AT VIRTUAL HEARING

7. ANKLE-CHAINED INMATE

8. VARIOUS OF OFFICERS AND INMATES DURING HEARING

9. HANDCUFFED INMATE

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF THE TERRORISM CONFINEMENT CENTRE (CECOT), BELARMINO GARCÍA, SAYING:

"Within our infrastructure, we have a series of hearing rooms that allow us to develop remote connectivity without any problem and thus facilitate guaranteeing due process to each of the accused in this hearing."

11. OFFICERS GUARDING HEARING ROOMS

12. INMATE ENTERING HEARING ROOM

13. INMATES INSIDE HEARING ROOM

14. HANDCUFFED INMATE

15. VARIOUS OF INMATES WATCHING VIRTUAL HEARING

16. CECOT PRISON FACILITIES