Legal proceedings in the Medina case have been postponed for at least two months at the request of public prosecutor Ramón Trinidad Zelaya Bogado. The delay, agreed to by Judge Silvio Flores Mendoza, was due to ongoing investigations, according to one of the victim’s brothers, Pablo., correspondent of the Asuncion daily newspaper ABC Color. The trial date, originally set for May 10, is now scheduled for the end of July. Formal charges are due to be presented in the Curuguaty District Court, 25 miles from the scene of the crime, on July 9.

Meanwhile, being held in custody at the Coronel Oviedo Prison are Milciades Mailyn, accused of actually carrying out the murder; his cousin Daniel Enciso Marilin, an alleged accomplice; Timoteo Caceres, a teacher said to be associated with them, and Luis Alberto Franco, the son of a local political leader named Justo who, according to Pablo Medina Velázquez has been identified as a trafficker in smuggled logs from the nature preserve in Capilbary, San Pedro province, run by the Paraguayan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

The following has emerged from the investigations and arrests:

· No action has been taken on allegations made by Medina about lumber smuggling and links with a gang from the Ara Pyahu township, some 10 miles from Capilbary, giving rise to speculation that police might be involved.

· The son of a local politician from the Colorado party, which has been the governing party in Paraguay since 1947, is implicated in the murder, giving rise to speculation that politics are involved.

· Coming to light is the professional jealousy of Cáceres, a teacher like Medina, and a death threat that Medina is said to have received at the radio, which would indicate in addition a personal motive.

The case itself, with successive changes in public prosecutor, contains a number of enigmas. At large are Claudio Bareiro and Mirta Miranda, the people known to have last been in possession of the weapon with which Medina was killed as he rode his motorcycle along Primero de Marzo Street in Capilbary, and Pablo Quiñonez Torres, linked to the lumber business. Also under suspicion are brothers Gilberto and Alfredo Salinas, alleged by Rolando Miranda Martínez (Mirta’s brother, who is himself under investigation) to be responsible for hiding the murder weapon. It is believed they are in Ciudad del Este, on the Brazilian border. Two warrants for their arrest issued by Judge Flores Mendoza have not borne fruit.

The slowness of the investigation began to become clear in February, one month after the murder. "It has not moved forward," Pablo Medina Velázquez said at the time. "One of the reasons is the constant change in public prosecutors in Curuguaty, where the case is filed. The legal process began with Gladys Vallejo, continued with Zelaya Bogado (on vacation since February 20) and then with Miguel Alcides Vera Zarza, to be taken up again by Zelaya Bogado."

No police protection

Medina’s family were being protected by a police officer, but strangely he left his post on the orders of his superiors. The same thing happened at Pablo Medina’s home in Curuguaty, despite a promise to give him protection made by Deputy Interior Minister Mario Agustín Sapriza, given the possibility that the motive for the murder was the information broadcast by the radio. His house is staked out sporadically by police officers from the 5th Precinct, while the former wife of a local politician is said to be trying to approach him, apparently to negotiate with him. But one of his 10 brothers, Digno Salomón, had to flee from his university residence as a result of threats from Emilce Portillo, a resident of Capilbary romantically linked to one of the arrested people.

The detainees’ lawyers formal requests for their clients’ release have been refused by Judge Flores Mendoza. The starting point in the investigations was the radio station, now being run by its board of directors. There, Medina had received death threats, but he never said from whom. His post as chairman of the board has been held since February, on an interim basis, by Federico Godoy, who said he has been a target of harassment. At that time, Capulbary police stopped a truck transporting logs. According to Pablo Medina, it belonged to Justo Franco, the father of one of the detainees, whose whereabouts since then are unknown.

"Bringing loose ends together in my last news coverage about a roadblock," Pablo Medina said, "an informant that I trust confirmed that the murder weapon belongs to the politician Justo Franco, who abandoned all his sons and daughters. The informant will be called in by Public Prosecutor Zelaya Bogado to make a formal statement."