STJ decides that Ustra should not compensate the family of victims of the dictatorship

The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decided to reject the appeal to reinstate the conviction of former Army colonel Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra to compensate the family of journalist Luiz Eduardo Merlino, murdered in July 1971, during the military dictatorship. The majority of ministers understood that the case was time-barred, despite the appeal’s rapporteur, Minister Marco Buzzi, pointing out that compensation for crimes during the dictatorship is not time-barred.

For the rapporteur, summary 647 recognizes that “compensation actions for moral and material damages resulting from acts of political persecution with violation of fundamental rights that occurred during the military regime are imprescriptible.”

In 2012, Ustra was ordered to pay R$50,000 to each of the authors for the excesses committed. The sentence recorded that the DOI-Codi commander participated in the torture sessions and even directed and calibrated the intensity and duration of the blows. With this, he was recognized as guilty for the suffering inflicted.

The trial that began in August this year was postponed after minister Isabel Gallotti disagreed with the rapporteur’s vote. For her, the action could not be filed against Ustra, but rather against the Brazilian State. When the appeal was resumed this Wednesday (29), the court recognized the statute of limitations for the case.

Ustra died in 2015, while awaiting judgment on the appeal. In 2018, the São Paulo Court of Justice understood that the possibility of requesting compensation, although not covered by the 1979 Amnesty Law, was already prescribed. The initial milestone considered was the promulgation of the 1988 Federal Constitution.