El Salvador: Woman Convicted of Her Baby's Death Released

Women ask that abortion not be punished with jail 2:40

(CNN Spanish) --

A Penitentiary Surveillance court ordered this Monday to release a woman sentenced to 30 years for the death of her baby after spending almost nine years in prison.

The woman favored with the ruling, identified as "Kenya", was 17 years old when she became pregnant as a result of sexual abuse, the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion in El Salvador said in a statement.

According to the report of that group, the woman suffered an obstetric emergency in a barn next to her house and was found bloodied by her father, who asked the authorities for help.

• Feminist organizations in El Salvador call for the release of 18 women imprisoned for the loss of their babies in out-of-hospital deliveries

At the time, after analyzing the case, the Prosecutor's Office accused Kenya of aggravated homicide because it considered that the death of her baby was not the product of a pregnancy complication and was sentenced by a Sentencing Court to 30 years in prison.

"We filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice and that allowed us to review the case and we also managed to commute the sentence," Morena Herrera, president of the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion in El Salvador, explained to CNN.

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"All the efforts are achieving flexibility in the institutions for the different resources that we present," added Herrera.

immediate release

Kenya received the letter of freedom on Monday to be able to return home, feminist organizations assured, since the Attorney General of El Salvador did not appeal the decision of the Prison Surveillance Court to grant early release.

CNN has consulted the Attorney General's Office about the ruling and the reasons for not filing the appeal, but has so far not responded.

A source from a Penitentiary Surveillance court confirmed to CNN that the General Directorate of Penal Centers had released the woman.

Kenya joins three other women released last December who were released after suffering obstetric emergencies and later facing convictions for aggravated murder.

"We hope that in the remainder of January and February other women who are in prison can also be released," Herrera said.

• A protest from the sea for Honduras to allow the emergency contraceptive pill

Last December, feminist organizations launched the campaign "We are missing the 17", which aims to raise awareness about the unfair treatment and legal punishment of women in El Salvador who suffer pregnancy complications.

Through a video, American celebrities asked President Nayib Bukele to do everything possible so that women who are in prison for suffering an obstetric emergency could return home.

The president has not responded to this request.

Women's rightsJustice