The Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay unanimously rejected the review appeal filed by Lieutenant Carlos Coronel, who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for fraud. The conviction stemmed from the improper use of identification cards to purchase cigarettes during his participation in the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, where Paraguay maintains troops with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
Justices Luis María Benítez Riera, Manuel Ramírez Candia, and Carolina Llanes were unanimous in denying the request, which sought to overturn the original sentence handed down on October 20, 2021, by the first-instance military judge of the third shift. The defense, represented by attorneys Claudio Balbuena and Gertrudis Mareco, argued that there was no financial harm, since the cost of the cigarettes was paid in full, and that there was no deception typical of criminal law, characterizing the act as an administrative infraction rather than a criminal one.
Furthermore, the defense pointed out that the lieutenant had already been previously punished with 15 days in prison for the same incident, which would constitute double jeopardy prohibited by the National Constitution of Paraguay. However, the Court held that the review appeal is an extraordinary measure that must be based on new facts, and that the arguments presented referred to evidence already examined in the original trial, not constituting the novelty needed to justify a review.
The justices emphasized that the defense's request was limited to challenging the assessment of the evidence and the interpretation of the lower court, which is not sufficient grounds to reopen the case. As a result, the appeal was declared inadmissible, upholding the conviction of Lieutenant Carlos Coronel by the Military Court.