Retrial resumes of Salvadoran woman on homicide charge after delivering stillborn son

Record ID: 1427185

  • Title: Retrial resumes of Salvadoran woman on homicide charge after delivering stillborn son
  • Date: 15th August 2019
  • Summary: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (AUGUST 15, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** WOMEN GATHERED OUTSIDE COURT IN SHOW OF SUPPORT OF EVELYN HERNANDEZ, CHANTING VARIOUS OF WOMEN GATHERED OUTSIDE COURT BEFORE HERNANDEZ SHOWED IN A SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR HER, CHANTING GENERAL VIEW OF EXTERIOR OF COURT EVELYN HERNANDEZ OUTSIDE COURT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EVELYN HERNANDEZ ADDRESSING PEOPLE AND JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE COURT, SAYING: "I have always told you that I am innocent. My goals are to keep studying, and I only ask the prosecution to think things through because I am really innocent. Also, to the judge, I know that he will do justice. God willing, all will end well. I am innocent." TOP VIEW OF HERNANDEZ ENTERING COURT BACK VIEW OF HERNANDEZ SITTING IN COURT VARIOUS OF HERNANDEZ SITTING IN COURT WITH HER LEGAL TEAM
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2019 18:36
  • Keywords: Salvador trial abortion rape stillbirth law
  • Location: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
  • City: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001ASBYAFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT INCLUDES STILLS OF EVELYN HERNANDEZ
    The retrial of a Salvadoran woman convicted of aggravated homicide after a stillbirth resumed on Thursday (August 15), offering a chance to overturn her 30-year sentence in a country that bans abortion in all circumstances.
    "I have always told you that I am innocent," Evelyn Hernandez, 21, told reporters as she entered the court.
    In February, the Supreme Court had ordered Evelyn Hernandez released and retried because the original judge's decision was based on prejudice and insufficient evidence.
    Hernandez has served three years of a three-decade sentence that was handed down after prosecutors said she had induced an abortion, despite her account that she was unaware of her pregnancy when she delivered a stillborn son in 2016.
    She again stated her innocence in the retrial, which began in mid-July but went on recess due to the illness of a witness. Hernandez, a domestic worker who was studying to be a nurse, has said she was impregnated after being raped by a gang member.
    "My goals are to keep studying, and I only ask the prosecution to think things through because I am really innocent," Hernandez said in a steady voice. "Also, to the judge, I know that he will do justice. God willing, all will end well."
    Any intentional termination of a pregnancy in El Salvador can be prosecuted as a crime, including stillbirths due to home delivery or abortions induced because of medical emergencies.
    Some 147 Salvadoran women were sentenced to up to 40 years in prison in such cases between 2000 and 2014, according to the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion.
    Hernandez's retrial is the first such case to be heard under President Nayib Bukele, who took office in June and has supported the right to abortion when a woman's life is at risk.
    (Production: Wilfredo Pineda, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Jose Cabezas)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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