The Public Ministery yesterday issued summons to testify for the second hearing on the murder of journalist Orlando Martínez Howley. Orlando, a vocal critic of the then-Balaguer government, was killed in his car in front of the campus of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) on March 17, 1975. The murder has long been popularly assumed to have been a political assassination. The first hearing was held in the 10th Penal Chamber on November 5, but many of the people summoned to testify, including ex-President Joaquín Balaguer, did not appear (Dr. Balaguer asked to be excused for health reasons). Summoned to the second hearing on December 7th are more than 30 people, including such well-known figures are Dr. Balaguer, and retired Generals Enrique Pérez y Pérez, Ramón Emilio Jiménez and José Ernesto Cruz Brea.
