Wed Sep 11 17:15:57 UTC 2024: ## Brazil Seeks Justice for 1969 Execution of Communist Guerrilla

**Sao Paulo, Brazil** – The Federal Prosecution Office in Brazil has filed a civil suit against 37 former agents of the country’s military dictatorship, seeking to hold them accountable for the 1969 execution of communist guerrilla Carlos Marighella. The suit alleges that the agents, including deceased figures like police officer Sérgio Paranhos Fleury and physician Abeylard Orsini, were responsible for Marighella’s death, which occurred during a police ambush.

Prosecutors argue that Marighella, who led the National Liberation Alliance (ALN), was unarmed and could have been apprehended, but was instead executed by the officers. The suit also alleges that the autopsy report, authored by Orsini, deliberately omitted evidence of execution, including signs of close-range shots and defensive wounds, in order to support the official narrative that Marighella had resisted arrest.

The lawsuit seeks a range of penalties for the defendants, including the forfeiture of pensions, reimbursement of expenses incurred by the Brazilian government in compensating Marighella’s family, and financial compensation for the collective moral damages caused by the political repression. In the case of deceased defendants, these reparations would be paid by their heirs.

The prosecution further argues that the 1979 Amnesty Act, which protected both military regime agents and leftist guerrillas from prosecution for political crimes, does not apply in this case due to the nature of the crime, which they consider to be a crime against humanity.

This lawsuit comes amid growing calls to review the effects of the Amnesty Act and to hold those responsible for human rights violations during the dictatorship accountable. The case of Carlos Marighella has been the subject of recent media attention, including the 2019 biopic “Marighella” directed by Wagner Moura. Another film, “I’m Still Here” by Walter Salles, which won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, focuses on the 1971 disappearance of Congressman Rubens Paiva, another victim of the dictatorship.

Read More