2 the detriment of Ricardo Nicolás Canese Krivoshein (hereinafter “Ricardo Canese”, “Mr. Canese” or “the alleged victim”), owing to the “sentence and prohibition to leave the country imposed on Ricardo Canese, engineer, […] as a result of statements made while he was a presidential candidate. According to the facts alleged by the Inter-American Commission, in August 1992, during the electoral debates leading up to the 1993 Paraguayan presidential elections, Ricardo Canese questioned the suitability and integrity of Juan Carlos Wasmosy, who was also a presidential candidate, when he stated that the latter “was the Stro[e]ssner family’s front man in CONEMPA” (Paraguayan Building Companies Consortium) (hereinafter “CONEMPA”), a company that took part in developing the Itaipú bi-national hydroelectric initiative, and whose President, at the time when the statements were made, was Mr. Wasmosy. The statements were published in several Paraguayan newspapers. The Commission indicated that, as a result of these statements and based on a complaint filed by some members of CONEMPA, who had not been named in the statements, Mr. Canese was tried, sentenced in first instance on March 22, 1994, and sentenced in second instance on November 4, 1997, for the offenses of slander to two months’ imprisonment and a fine of 2,909,000 guaranís (“equal to [...] US$1,400”). The Commission also stated that, as a result of the criminal proceedings against him, Mr. Canese was subjected to a permanent prohibition to leave the country, which was lifted only under exceptional circumstances and irregularly. 3. The Commission also requested the Court, in accordance with Article 63(1) of the Convention, to order the State to adopt the specific measures of reparation set out in the application. Lastly, it requested the Inter-American Court to order the State to pay the costs and expenses arising from processing the case in the domestic jurisdiction and before the organs of the Inter-American System. II COMPETENCE 4. Paraguay has been a State Party to the American Convention since August 24, 1989, and accepted the jurisdiction of the Court on March 26, 1993. The Court is therefore competent to hear the instant case, in the terms of Articles 62 and 63(1) de la Convention. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. On July 2, 1998, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Journalists’ Trade Union of Paraguay (SPP), the National Electricity Board Workers’ Trade Union (ANDE), and the lawyers, Pedro Almada Galeano, Alberto Nicanor Duarte and Carlos Daniel Alarcón (hereinafter “the petitioners”), filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission, based on the alleged violation by Paraguay of Articles 8 and 22 of the American Convention, “against Ricardo Canese, former presidential candidate of the Republic of Paraguay, by prohibiting him from leaving national territory[,…] owing to criminal proceedings for slander and defamation (injuria) […] as a result of statements made during the electoral campaign against [his fellow] candidate, Juan Carlos Wasmosy,” filed by the latter’s business partners. 6. On July 15, 1998, the Commission designated the petition No. 12,032. 7. On May 7, 1999, the Commission made itself available to the parties to reach a friendly settlement.