38 down by the First Criminal Trial Court on March 22, 1994, and decision and judgment No. 18 handed down by the Third Chamber of the Court of Criminal Appeal on November 4, 1997 (supra para. 69(15) and 69(20)); c) to absolve Mr. Canese from guilt and pardon him; and d) to cancel all records “relating to the fact investigated in these proceedings.” As partial grounds for this decision, the Criminal Chamber indicated that it complied with the requirement of the existence of a “new fact,” because “there is a new Penal Code that has radically changed the criminal classification of slander; second, because the positive criminal norm (Art. 152 CP1997) introduces grounds for exempting criminal responsibility – among other elements – in cases of public interest; third, because, if paragraph 5 of Art. 152 of the Penal Code [were] applied in the specific case, Art. 13 of the American Convention would be violated[,…] with the aggravating factor that the proceedings instituted in first instance were not even opened to evidence.” The sanctions imposed in the said 1994 and 1997 judgments were never executed.82 69(50) On December 15, 2002, Ricardo Canese and his lawyer filed a petition for clarification regarding decision and judgment No. 1362 of December 11, 2002 (supra para. 69(49)), concerning the omission of a decision on which party should pay costs. On April 27, 2004, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay issued decision and judgment No. 804, deciding to admit the said petition for clarification and “[i]mpose the costs and expenses of the whole proceeding on the complainants.”83 Regarding Ricardo Canese’s requests to leave Paraguay, and the restrictions and permissions A) Permissions to leave the country that were denied 69(51) In his capacity as candidate for the presidency of Paraguay, Ricardo Canese traveled to the United States to make a presentation at Harvard Law School on “Democratization in Paraguay: The Role of Civil and Military Forces in the Transition,” on February 16, 1993, despite “[the State’s] attempt to detain [him] and prevent [his] departure from the country,” because he was “being prosecuted.”84 69(52) On April 18, 1994, Mr. Canese and his lawyers submitted to the First Criminal Trial Court a request for “permission to travel abroad,” so that he could attend the “IX Encontro Nacional do Partido dos Trabalhadores” [the eleventh 82 Cf. decision and judgment No. 1362 issued by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay on December 11, 2002 (file on merits and possible reparations and costs, tome II, folios 502 to 508); and testimony of Ricardo Nicolás Canese Krivoshein given before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on April 28, 2004. 83 Cf. decision and judgment No. 804 issued by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay on April 27, 2004 (file on merits and possible reparations and costs, tome III, folios 807 to 810). 84 Cf. testimony of Ricardo Nicolás Canese Krivoshein given before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on April 28, 2004; poster on the presentation by Ricardo Canese scheduled by the Human Rights Program of Harvard Law School for February 16, 1993 (file of attachments to the application, attachment 17, folio 115); document with the itinerary of confirmed appointments for Ricardo Canese from February 15 to February 19, 1993, in the United States of America (file of attachments to the application, attachment 17, folios 116 and 117); and newspaper article entitled “Conferencia en Harvard. Canese: ‘Puede naufragar la transición paraguaya’” published on February 18, 1993, in the Paraguayan newspaper “Noticias” (file of attachments to the brief answering the application, and with observations on the brief with requests and arguments, tome I, attachment 3, folio 632).