- Title: Murder retrial of Salvadoran woman over stillborn son to continue
- Date: 16th August 2019
- Summary: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (AUGUST 15, 2019) (REUTERS) RIGHTS GROUPS AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE COURT WHERE SALVADORAN WOMAN, EVELYN HERNANDEZ, IS BEING RE-TRIED ON CHARGES OF AGGRAVATED HOMICIDE AFTER A STILLBIRTH HERNANDEZ EXITS COURT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SALVADORAN WOMAN BEING RE-TRIED ON CHARGES OF AGGRAVATED HOMICIDE AFTER A STILLBIRTH, EVELYN HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "From my perspective (the trial went) very well. Now I'm waiting for justice - starting at 10:00 (a.m.) tomorrow when they release it, because I'm innocent of what they're accusing me." VARIOUS, HERNANDEZ DEPARTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EVELYN HERNANDEZ'S LAWYER, BERTA DE LEON, SAYING: "For us on the defense team what we are hoping for is that she is absolved. Up to now there has been no change in what they were able to show in the first trial, which the court has already said there was no way to establish that Evelyn wanted to kill the newborn, rather it was a complicated birth and the newborn died from aspiration of meconium." VARIOUS, PROTESTERS AND RIGHTS GROUPS IN FRONT OF COURT
- Embargoed: 30th August 2019 01:37
- Keywords: aggravated homicide retrial prison trial abortion sentence stillbirth charges Evelyn Hernandez El Salvador
- Location: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
- City: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
- Country: El Salvador
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001ASBYXC7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The retrial of a Salvadoran woman convicted of aggravated homicide after a stillbirth adjourned on Thursday (August 15) with the conclusion of the case expected on Friday (August 16).
The trial offers a chance for Evelyn Hernandez, 21, to overturn her 30-year sentence in a country that bans abortion in all circumstances.
In February, the Supreme Court had ordered 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 was delayed by 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.
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.
A total of 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' 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.
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