Corrupt judges and lawyers arrested in...El Salvador?

Mimi Yagoub from Insight Crime covers the arrests of several judges and lawyers in El Salvador. They are accused of a variety of corruption-related charges.

El Salvador's Attorney General's Office has arrested 12 members of a criminal network that allegedly embezzled $300,000 via a scheme in which judicial officials absolved murderers, drug traffickers, and extortionists, reported El Mundo.

According to investigators, several defendants being prosecuted for money laundering were absolved by corrupt judges; afterwards, the defendants were expected to walk away and not demand that the confiscated cash be returned. In other cases, judges would authorize returning the seized cash -- which in one case involved $150,000 -- only to distribute the money among other corrupt officials involved in the scheme.

The network was made up of three judges -- only one of whom has been suspended -- who were already under investigation for bribery; two former prosecutors for El Salvador's Financial Investigation Unit (UIF), and a number of lawyers.

Yagoub's right to worry that the case appears to rest on the testimony of a single witness. In the past, authorities have arrested a good number of alleged drug traffickers, murders, and money launderers, only to see them released weeks or months later because of a "lack of evidence." That seems to be what these judges and lawyers were up to. Hopefully, that won't work in their favor now that they are defendants.

The arrests are significant as well as El Salvador's criminal justice system needs to prove that it does not need outside assistance a la Guatemala and Honduras. I expect to see more high-profile arrests simply to prove that "hey, we are doing something."

Attorney General Luis Martinez also needs to prove that he deserves another term in office. The arrests could be related to his re-election campaign. According to Hector Silva, Martinez should not be re-elected. Here's another reason why -  El titiritero.