DistantNews
Support us
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Paraguayan prosecutors assess whether jailed former governor suffered accidental fall before ICU admission

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Under investigation
  • Paraguayan prosecutors said reports, testimony, videos and photographs preliminarily support the possibility that former governor Hugo Javier González fell in his cell bathroom.
  • González, who is serving a 10-year sentence for diverting pandemic recovery funds, remains in an induced coma in intensive care with multiple head injuries and meningitis, a doctor said.
  • Investigators said the earlier theory that he suffered a stroke before falling had weakened, while his vital signs remained stable.

An accidental fall is gaining strength as the main explanation for the injuries suffered by former Paraguayan governor Hugo Javier González while in state custody, according to the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office.

would have fallen in the bathroom of his cell, which caused his injuries

· Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s OfficeThe preliminary hypothesis described in the investigation into González’s injuries.

The prosecution said reports, witness accounts, videos and photographs collected during the investigation preliminarily suggest that González may have fallen in the bathroom of his cell. Investigators cited an uneven floor, poor lighting and the absence of defensive wounds as circumstances consistent with an accident.

González was taken on Sunday night from the Industrial Penitentiary La Esperanza, formerly Tacumbú National Penitentiary, to a nearby medical center. He was initially treated at Barrio Obrero Hospital in Asunción for a head injury and other wounds, then transferred to the National Hospital of Itauguá. Doctors operated successfully to relieve pressure caused by two brain bleeds.

loses strength

· Pablo LemirThe forensic medicine director described the weakening of the stroke hypothesis.

Authorities had initially considered whether González suffered a stroke in the cell bathroom, causing the fall and subsequent injuries to his head, left eye and other parts of his body. Pablo Lemir, director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office department of legal and forensic medicine, said that theory was losing force. He said González had four hemorrhages in his head and a fracture on the left side of his skull, injuries that may have resulted from the fall.

a clinical case of meningitis

· José EspínolaThe treating physician described González’s condition.

Treating physician José Espínola said González had a clinical case of meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. His vital signs remained stable, although he was still in an induced coma in intensive care. González governed the Central department from 2018 to 2022 and was removed after being charged in the case known as the COVID-19 funds scandal. He surrendered to authorities on August 4, saying he had “nothing to hide.”

nothing to hide

· Hugo Javier GonzálezHis statement when he surrendered to authorities on August 4.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog