Rolón appoints prosecutors to investigate criminal case involving Hugo Javier

Paraguay’s attorney general, Emiliano Rolón Fernández, has formed a prosecutorial team to investigate the criminal case involving former Central governor Hugo Javier González, who is hospitalized after suffering a stroke in prison.

The team includes prosecutors Luis Fernando Chamorro Candia and Sonia Sanguinés. Lourdes Samaniego, the deputy prosecutor responsible for Area II, will coordinate the investigation. The Public Prosecutor’s Office said such teams can be created for cases of greater complexity or significance.

The office had already opened an inquiry into what happened in González’s cell and the cause of the injuries found on him. Its preliminary conclusion is that the injuries resulted from an accidental fall in the cell’s bathroom. Investigators cited poor lighting and the absence of defensive wounds as factors that could indicate no assault took place.

González, a former governor of the Central department who was convicted of diverting public funds, was taken from the Unidad Penitenciaria Industrial La Esperanza to Hospital General de Barrio Obrero in Asunción on Sunday night. A cellmate alerted prison guards to his condition.

He remains in serious condition at the National Hospital of Itauguá. Doctors detected bacterial meningitis after analyzing cerebrospinal fluid taken through a brain catheter installed to monitor and relieve intracranial pressure. Laboratory tests identified Streptococcus pneumoniae, commonly known as pneumococcus.