“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, filed on July 2, 2024, an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in case 12,686, with regard to Paraguay. This case concerns violations of the legality principle and of Aldo Zuccolillo Moscarda's rights to freedom of expression and to judicial guarantees.
In 1998, Paraguayan politician and senator Juan Carlos Galaverna filed a complaint against the daily ABC Color and against the publication's founder and editor-in-chief, Zuccolillo, for libel, defamation, and slander. In 2001, Zuccolillo was ordered to pay a fine for these crimes. He appealed, and the sentence was changed in 2002 to a heftier fine for defamation. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that Zuccolillo had to pay an additional fine of $295,687 USD for harm caused to Galaverna's honor.
In its merit report No. 398/22, the IACHR found that criticism made by the newspaper was linked to issues of public interest, given that it highlighted allegations of corruption by a senator. That criticism was therefore protected and was in fact essential in a democratic society, which meant that criminal law did not apply.”
