11 35. In this chapter the Court shall analyze whether the State is liable for the violation of the right to freedom of expression of Mr. Usón Ramírez. Before considering the corresponding allegations by the parties thereof, the proven facts involved in the dispute shall be determined. 36. Mr. Usón Ramírez, who was Brigadier General of the Armed Forces, had held various public positions, including being Minister of Finance. He resigned to such position after the events of April 11, 2002, since he disagreed with the government and with the members of the High Military Command. In 2003, Mr. Usón Ramírez retired.28 37. On April 16 and May 10, 2004, Mr. Usón Ramírez was invited to take part in a TV program called “La Entrevista” [The Interview]. On several occasions the subject of the program was the hypothesis stated in several press Articles written by the other invited guest on the program, a journalist, about the alleged use of a “flamethrower” as a means of punishment against some soldiers in Fuerte Mara, where a cell caught fire on March 30, 2004. To that end, Mr. Usón Ramírez was presented as an “excellent analyst of military and political subjects.” He also indicated that he was an expert on the subject when he identified himself as an “Engineering Officer.” In the program, Mr. Usón Ramírez explained how flamethrowers worked and the procedures required in the Armed Forces to use them. He also pointed out that “the functioning and the way the equipment is set up evidences that there [was] premeditation.”29 Then he added that such situation “would be very-very serious if […] it were true.”30 38. As a consequence of the statements made in said television interview, Mr. Usón Ramírez was tried and judgmentd to five years and six months in jail for the crime of “slander against the National Armed Forces,”31 following a criminal statute set forth in Article 505 of the Organic Code of Military Justice whereby “whoever slanders, offends, or disparages the National Armed Forces or any of its units shall be subject to three to eight years in prison.”32 39. According to the judgment issued on November 8, 2004, by the First Military Tribunal of Caracas against Mr. Usón Ramírez, “the facts, object of the trial,” which gave rise to the cause are summed up as follows: The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms recognized herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition. 27 Article 2 of the Convention establishes that: Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in Article 1 is not already ensured by legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their constitutional processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms. 28 Cf. Order No. DG-21141 of the Ministry of Defense on May 30, 2003 (case file of attachments of the petition, tomo I, attachment 21, f. 994) and Judgment No. 01574 of October 15, 2003 of the Political Administrative Court of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice regarding the remedy of nullity in tangent with the remedy of constitutional review and motion for suspension of effects of the order No. DG-21141 of May 30, 2003 (case file of attachments to the petition, tomo I, attachment 22, f. 996).. 29 Transcription of the program “The Interview,” on April 16, 2004 (case file of attachments to the petition, tomo I, attachment 29, f. 1084). 30 Transcription of the program “The Interview,” supra note 29, f. 1085 31 Judgment of the First Military Tribunal of Judgment on November 8, 2004, supra note 22, fs. 397 and 398. 32 Article 505 of Organic Code of Military Justice.