El Salvador's Attorney General's Office held rights lawyer Ruth López in pretrial detention for a year in a sealed case

Ruth López, head of the anti-corruption unit at the rights group Cristosal, was arrested on May 18, 2025 on embezzlement allegations tied to her earlier work as an adviser to a former Supreme Electoral Tribunal magistrate; about 15 days later the charge was changed to illicit enrichment. A judge ordered pretrial detention on June 4, 2025 and extended it for six months in December 2025; Human Rights Watch says the case remains sealed with no evidence presented in open court.