assume, without additional evidence, that the responsibility lies with the President of the legislature’s Board of Directors.”11 29. The Court nevertheless ordered that a copy of this case file be forwarded to the Attorney General of the Republic, for the purposes indicated in the legal reasoning of this judgment12. According to the case file, the Public Ministry opened a criminal investigation into the alleged irregularities in the legislature’s administration of the employees’ funds13. Criminal defamation case against Tulio Álvarez 30. On May 23, 2003 the newspaper Así es la Noticia published the following in “Black Files,” an opinion piece by Tulio Álvarez:14 National Assembly’s Savings Bank Looted You are not going to believe it, but what is happening with the benefits and other rights of public sector employees is a crime of the largest magnitude. During the term of Congressman Willian Lara´s—against whom a request for preliminary impeachment proceedings filed by employees and retirees of the institution is pending before the Plenary of the Supreme Court— two billion bolívares from the employees’ Savings Bank was used to cover other National Assembly. To date, only partial deposits have been made, and the debt has now reached Bs. 1,701,723,317.25. And I am not the one saying this—it was stated by Iván Rafael Delgado Abreu, Superintendent of Savings Banks of the Venezuelan Finance Ministry, in communication DDS-OAL-1841, received by the office of the current president of the National Assembly on April 28, 2003.” 31. On this opinion piece, Tulio Alvarez reffered to the official letter DS-OAL-1841 addressed by the Office of the Superintendent of Savings Banks of the Venezuelan Finance Ministry to the Office of the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela on April 28, 2003,, requesting “your good offices for purposes of paying the SAVINGS AND BENEFITS BANK OF THE WORKERS, EMPLOYEES, RETIREES, AND PENSIONERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (CAPSEOJPAN) […] for the debt incurred by this body for contributions and withholdings, which as of the month of February, 2003 was approximately ONE BILLION SEVEN HUNDRED ONE MILLION SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN BOLIVARES AND TWENTY-FIVE CENTIMOS (Bs. 1,701,723,317.25)” [emphasis in the original]. The Office of the Superintendent indicated that the debt had resulted in a decrease in the bank’s assets that had “significantly affected its liquidity, preventing it from meeting the social objectives for which it was established, the commitments made to its members, and its principal mission which is to encourage savings 11 Annex 17. Supreme Court. Judgment of April 24, 2003. Available at: http://www.tsj.gov.ve/decisiones/tplen/Abril/AA10-L2003-000028.htm 12 Annex 17. Supreme Court. Judgment of April 24, 2003. Available at: http://www.tsj.gov.ve/decisiones/tplen/Abril/AA10-L2003-000028.htm. 13 Annex 2. Seventh Trial Court of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Caracas Metropolitan Area. Judgment of Conviction in Case No.7-246-2004, Case File IV. February 28, 2005. Communication from the petitioner received on September 7, 2006. 14 Annex 2. Seventh Trial Court of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Caracas Metropolitan Area. Judgment of Conviction in Case No.7-246-2004, Case File IV. February 28, 2005. Communication from the petitioner received on September 7, 2006; Annex 3. Third Division of the Court of Appeals of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Metropolitan District of Caracas. Appeal Judgment, case file No. 2367-05. September 29, 2005. Communication from the State dated June 26, 2012; and Communication from the petitioner dated March 12, 2013. In that communication, the petitioner reiterated the content of the article and reported that he does not have a copy of the publication. This information was not contested by the State.