Lilian has spent seven of the 30 years in prison to which she was sentenced for aggravated homicide after her newborn daughter died in a hospital in El Salvador. She was the last woman to be imprisoned in the country under the country's draconian abortion law, according to feminist organizations that fought for her release. She was released from prison last December but on Wednesday she made her first public appearance, in which she called for an end to the persecution of "innocent women."
Lilian, 28, called on Central American people to stop denouncing women who suffer obstetric emergencies, in her first public comments since her release. Specifically, obstetric professionals. "I call on people to stop reporting other innocent women," she declared.
Lilian gave birth at the San Juan de Dios National Hospital, located in the western department of Santa Ana, and the newborn did not survive and died 72 hours later, according to the story of the organizations Colectiva Feminista and the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion.
Lawyer Angélica Rivas explained in a press conference that Lilian was initially accused of abandonment and neglect of people, but then the Prosecutor's Office requested the crime be changed to aggravated homicide, a charge for which she was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The woman was released on December 1 of last year after lawyers from the organizations requested a review of the sentence.
Years later, a judge reviewed the 2015 sentence and acquitted Lillian considering that both she and her daughter were in a vulnerable condition in the hospital when the events occurred. The lawyer indicated that in the sentencing review hearing it was recognized, by the judicial authorities, that there was a violation of the fundamental guarantees in the process.
He pointed out that Lilian's defense presented various evidence that "evidenced the error" that was committed by the judicial authorities in sentencing her to 30 years in prison. "There was clear negligence on the part of the State and it has been accepted by the judicial authorities and the important thing about this entire process is that, with seven years (in prison), she (Lilian) is free and can hopefully rebuild her life." , he added.
Lilian, who is also the mother of a 10-year-old boy, said she was happy to be reunited with her family, called on innocent women in prison to report their cases and assured that it was "very hard" to be in prison. "It is a privilege to go free after being convicted. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," she told reporters.
With Lilian there are 73 women who have been released after being sentenced to sentences of between 25 and 50 years in prison for the crime of aggravated homicide after experiencing obstetric emergencies in their homes or in public hospitals in El Salvador. "The fight for the decriminalization of abortion continues to seem urgent and a just cause for thousands of women and girls, not only in El Salvador," commented feminist Mariana Moisa.
The Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion and the Feminist Collective have campaigned since 2012 for the release of women who face up to 50 years in prison accused of aggravated homicide. They say their campaigns - the most well-known demanding "Free the 17" - have helped free 73 women, although six other cases are pending and 11 remain active because the attorney general's office decided not to file appeals. These women are not currently in prison.
Many of the women who have been denounced "are women who have lived and live in poverty," the Feminist Coordinator stated on its website about these 17 women who have finally been released after years of struggle and whose campaign comes to an end. end with the release of Lilian. "They arrived bleeding in search of help at public health facilities and, from there, they were denounced, prosecuted and convicted of aggravated homicide, forcing them to go from the hospital to prison," she added.
In El Salvador, whose president, Nayib Bukele, has publicly stated his position against abortion, women who suffer pregnancy complications that lead to miscarriages and stillbirths are routinely suspected of having had an abortion and are prosecuted under the charge of aggravated homicide. Since 1998, abortion has been prohibited with a prison sentence of up to eight years, which can reach up to 50 years in these cases in which the court considers that the woman has killed the fetus.
The Central American country is far from legalizing abortion, due to the manifest opposition of its president, and also of the Legislative Assembly, with a large pro-government majority, which shows no signs of promoting, analyzing and approving legislation on the subject.
Beyond the Salvadoran borders, women's rights organizations observe with hope the case of Beatriz against El Salvador, which they have taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH) and which is studying the most severe anti-abortion law in America. Her verdict, which was expected to be announced at the end of last year, may have repercussions both in the country that sits in the dock and throughout the continent, where Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Honduras also prohibit abortion without exceptions.
