In retrial, El Salvador acquits woman accused of killing her stillborn child

Record ID: 1427745

  • Title: In retrial, El Salvador acquits woman accused of killing her stillborn child
  • Date: 19th August 2019
  • Summary: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (AUGUST 19, 2019) (REUTERS) EVELYN HERNANDEZ, WHO WAS ACCUSED OF HOMICIDE AFTER GIVING BIRTH TO A STILLBORN BABY, ARRIVING AT COURT VARIOUS OF HERNANDEZ IN COURT VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE COURT CHEERING / CHANTING FOR HERNANDEZ HERNANDEZ LEAVING COURT AFTER BEING ACQUITTED PEOPLE CHEERING FOR HERNANDEZ WITH BANNERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EVELYN HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "Thank God, justice was done. I also thank you who have been here and I also thank all international countries. I also thank my mother for always being with me in everything. I know it's been tough all this time, being in there (courtroom) and seeing how I was being accused of something I was innocent of and I also ask... There are many women who are still locked up and I call for them to be freed soon, too, well thank you. I don't tire of thanking you all because you have always been here." MEDIA GATHERED AROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HERNANDEZ'S LAWYER, BERTA DE LEON, SAYING: "We can't lose sight there are more women who are being held due to injustice, we are advancing and we want - as we managed to obtain Evelyn's freedom - to continue fighting to free the others. The judge, we feel has been just in his resolution. He has said there would be no way of proving the crime and that is why she was freed. He has said it was a tough birth as many women - who are behind bars- have had." WOMEN CHEERING OUTSIDE COURT HERNANDEZ WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2019 00:43
  • Keywords: Salvadoran court acquitted woman accused of homicide birth stillborn baby abortion ban Evelyn Hernandez
  • 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: LVA001ASVXLXJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Salvadoran court on Monday (August 19) acquitted a woman accused of homicide after giving birth to a stillborn baby in a case that drew international attention to the socially conservative nation's strict abortion ban.
    Evelyn Hernandez, 21, was previously convicted of intentionally inducing an abortion and had already served three years of a 30-year prison sentence.
    "Thank God, justice was done," Hernandez, in tears, told a cheering crowd outside the courthouse. "There are many women who are still locked up and I call for them to be freed soon, too."
    In February, the Supreme Court ordered Hernandez be released and retried, saying that the original judge's decision was based on prejudice and insufficient evidence.
    Hernandez was raped by a gang member and said she was unaware of her pregnancy until just shortly before she gave birth to a stillborn son in April 2016.
    Some 147 Salvadoran women have been 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, a local rights group.
    The group said it will seek fresh reviews of at least 16 similar cases.
    (Production: Wilfredo Pineda, Rodolfo Pena Roja)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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