SAN SALVADOR, Dec 4, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Human rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday called on authorities in El Salvador to independently verify the health and detention conditions of lawyer Ruth Lopez, a critic of President Nayib Bukele.

Lopez, who heads the anti-corruption unit of the human rights NGO Cristosal, was arrested on May 18 and is accused of illicit enrichment, a charge she denies.

She worked with families of Venezuelan migrants deported by the United States and imprisoned in the Central American nation.

In a letter to El Salvador's human rights prosecutor Raquel Caballero de Guevara, Amnesty called for "supervision, through regular and rigorous visits to Ms. Lopez, documenting her health condition, detention conditions and access to her defense."

Lopez's court proceedings have operated mostly in secret, without disclosure of detailed information. Her defense said she is suffering "personal" deterioration.

When Lopez appeared in court in June, the 47-year-old carried a Bible and demanded a public trial.

"The people deserve to know," she said. "God and the truth are with me."

Amnesty International has declared her a prisoner of conscience and called for her immediate release.

In July, Lopez's rights group Cristosal said it was forced into exile due to "escalating repression" under Bukele's administration, which has arrested several critics in recent months, including environmental lawyer Alejandro Henriquez and local leader Jose Angel Perez.

Amnesty has said previously that Lopez's arrest was "part of a systematic pattern of criminalization that seeks to silence those who denounce abuses or demand justice and transparency in public administration."