Prosecutor Reveals What Hugo Javier’s Cellmate Told Investigators

Prosecutor Luis Chamorro has described the account given by the cellmate of former Central governor Hugo Javier González, who remains in intensive care after suffering a stroke and trauma in prison. González has also been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

Chamorro said Luis Giménez told investigators that he and González had a very good relationship and worked together in the prison workshop. Giménez said he heard González fall inside their cell, called for help and assisted with the effort to remove him and provide aid.

The prosecutor said Giménez’s account would be checked against other evidence, including closed-circuit camera footage and medical reports. Simply being in the cell when the incident occurred, he said, was not enough to conclude that Giménez had assaulted González or that his account was not credible.

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He described everything they did that day, up to the moment when it happened. He heard the fall, called for help, and helped remove Hugo Javier and assist him.

Investigators visited the cell, took photographs and reconstructed the incident. Chamorro said the room was extremely dark even in the morning, and that the uneven entrance to the bathroom and toilet could also have contributed to a fall.

Other testimony indicated that González was held tightly by the arms while being moved from the cell in a wheelchair because he repeatedly tried to stand. Investigators are also considering whether those movements and the passage down stairs may account for some of his injuries. González is serving a 10-year sentence over the diversion of public funds during the COVID-19 emergency when he was governor.

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We inspected the cell in the morning, turned off the light, and absolutely nothing could be seen.