MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay: Chilavert's conviction upheld

Instead of an off-court deal, Chilavert preferred to go to trial

A Paraguayan Criminal Court of Appeals in Asunción Tuesday upheld the one-year suspended jail sentence against former international goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert.

The former captain of the national squad had been convicted in a defamation lawsuit filed by South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) President Alejandro Domínguez.

Although the charges were of slander, defamation, and libel, the magistrate found that only defamation had been proved.

Read also: Former Paraguay keeper gets prison sentence for defamation

Chilavert is thus banned from unauthorizedly leaving the country and must appear monthly for the next three months to sign the judicial record book.

Dominguez had requested two years in prison for Chilavert and a monetary fine, which was denied since the assets of the defendant were not known and the rationale behind such compensation was not offered.

Through his Twitter account, Chilavert had accused Domínguez of corruption. Some 13 tweets were submitted as evidence. The judge pointed out there was a fine line between information and an opinion within the right of expression and an accusation. The magistrate found that some of Chilavert's expressions sought to “subject a person to scorn.”

On May 11, 2020, Chilavert described Dominguez as a “world disgrace” and in many of his postings he referred to Conmebol as “Corrupbol,” which he claimed was “dirtier than ever.”

Chilavert, who had also announced he wanted to run for President of Paraguay next year, wrote on May 20, 2020, that “... now the world of soccer is going to find out about the shady dealings of Alejandro Dominguez and his entourages. It is the class struggle in Paraguay. I am the Paraguayan people against political clans, which do so much damage to Paraguay.”

Read also: Chilavert launches bid for president of Paraguay

The former goalkeeper could have settled the differences with Dominguez in an off-court deal, but he preferred to go to trial.