The Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras.| Photo: Rosinei Coutinho/STF

The Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, asked this Monday (3) the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to consider the crime of work analogous to slavery imprescriptible. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), together with the Labor Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPT), filed an Argument of Non-compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) to the Court based on Article 149 of the Penal Code.

Aras also requested the granting of an injunction so that, until the judgment of the merits of the case, judges and courts refrain from declaring the prescription of this type of offense, informed the PGR, in a note. “Last year alone, 2,575 workers in situations similar to slavery were rescued in the country. This year, the number was 918, between January and March 20 alone, representing a record increase of 124% compared to the same period of 2022”, highlighted the Attorney General’s Office.

In the action, Aras emphasized that the establishment of a time limit for the punishment by the State of crimes of this nature represents a violation of fundamental precepts such as human dignity, the social value of work, the rights to freedom and physical integrity of the worker, the protection social work, among others.

“The need to exemplarily punish slavery is still a measure of historical reparation, especially when, even 134 years after the formal abolition of enslavement of people in the country, reality proves the persistence of contemporary forms of slavery, affecting more vulnerable sectors for historical, social, economic, migratory, ethnic, racial and gender factors”, pointed out the PGR.