The Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), which mobilizes the victims of the collapse of the Samarco mining company’s dam, expressed indignation among all the defendants in the action that judged criminal responsibility for the episode. The entity assessed that it was an affront to everyone who lost their loved ones.
“In view of countless scientific evidence that criminal companies had about the risk of the structure breaking and the negligence with which they handled the case – even using a false environmental report – it is nonsense to understand that there is no causal link between the crime and those indicted”, records a repudiation note released by MAB.
The entity said it was committed to the search for justice and stated that it would present appeals to higher courts. The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) also stated that it will contest the decision, taken this Thursday (14) by the Federal Regional Court of the 6th Region (TRF-6), in Belo Horizonte.
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The rupture of the dam, located in the municipality of Mariana (MG), occurred on November 5, 2015. At the time, around 39 million cubic meters of waste flowed through the Rio Doce Basin. Nineteen people died and a pregnant woman, rescued alive, suffered a miscarriage. There were impacts on the populations of dozens of municipalities up to the mouth of the Rio Doce, in Espírito Santo.
Criminal case
No one was arrested, not even on a preventive or temporary basis. The criminal case began in 2016 with a complaint from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF). Initially, there were 22 defendants. Samarco and its two shareholders – Vale and BHP Billiton – were also on trial and could be penalized for environmental crimes, as well as VogBr, the auditor that signed the stability report for the dam that collapsed.
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However, over time, they were granted you have a body to some denounced. Furthermore, there were some prescribed crimes and, in 2019, a court decision benefited the defendants by ordering the suspension of criminal proceedings for the charge of qualified homicide. The thesis prevailed that the evidence included in the complaint pointed to the deaths as consequences of the crime of flooding.
This Thursday’s decision (14) acquitted all seven kings who were still involved in the process for environmental crimes, including the former president of Samarco, Ricardo Vescovi. They were no longer responsible for homicide, only for environmental crimes. The sentence also acquitted the three mining companies and VogBr.
Judge Patrícia Alencar Teixeira de Carvalho, who signed the decision, noted that there was “not enough evidence to establish criminal responsibility”. In their view, the board assigned qualified professionals to operate the dams and was not informed about events that aggravated the risks. Furthermore, she considered that it had not been proven that acts or omissions led to the dam failure.
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Searched for by Brazil AgencySamarco and Vale did not comment on the decision. BHP Billiton reported – in a note – that it has not yet been notified. “As one of Samarco’s shareholders, the company has always been and continues to be committed to all repair efforts underway in Brazil due to the dam collapse in 2015,” adds the mining company.
In addition to the criminal process, several actions are being processed in the civil sphere involving the repair of the damage caused in the tragedy. Three weeks ago, an agreement seeking to resolve this situation was signed between the mining companies, the federal government, the governments of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, the MPF and other justice institutions. Until then, the reparation process had been conducted based on the Transaction and Conduct Adjustment Term (TTAC), signed in 2016. This first agreement, however, had been considered unsatisfactory.
The new agreement was the result of three years of negotiations in search of a renegotiation of the reparation process that would be capable of resolving a liability of 80 thousand legal actions. An investment of R$100 billion in new money was defined, with substantial changes being made to the governance of the reparation process, removing the activities of the Renova Foundation, which had been created based on the TTAC.
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But the way in which the negotiations developed, without the participation of those affected, is the target of criticism from MAB. The entity also questioned some clauses in court.
English justice
At the same time, the reparation process is also being debated in the English courts, where more than 600,000 people affected and dozens of municipalities seek reparation in a . The Anglo-Australian mining company, which is a shareholder in Samarco, is the target of the process because it is based in London. The Pogust Goodhead office, which represents the victims, estimates that a conviction could reach R$260 billion, resulting in higher compensation than those provided for in the agreement signed in Brazil. However, with the requirement for a final settlement agreement, each person affected may have to make a choice between receiving it now or waiting for the result of the English process.
In the current stage of the English process, which should last until March next year, the judges will determine whether or not the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton is responsible. The mining company has been maintaining that the process duplicates issues that are already being considered in Brazil. There is an agreement between the two shareholders of Samarco – BHP Billiton and Vale – so that, in the event of conviction, each one will pay 50% of the fixed amounts.
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In the note in which it repudiated the acquittal of the defendants in the criminal case, MAB also expressed surprise at a decision in favor of the mining companies being published shortly after the signing of the reparation agreement and in the midst of the judgment on the merits in the English case.
“We question the true purpose of these recent and intense conducts by the Brazilian justice system – after a long hiatus of decisions on the case – in view of the processing of the case in the British court. We also remain confident in English justice, hoping that, finally, the criminals will be punished and those affected will be duly compensated”, records the text.
Acquittal of defendants
The Pogust Goodhead office, which defends those affected in the court of the European country, stated, in a statement, that it will not comment on the acquittal of the defendants, since the criminal issue would be a prerogative of the Brazilian Judiciary.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that the English process will confirm the need for due punishment for corporate irresponsibility, which costs lives and causes irreparable damage to the environment.
“The action in London is ongoing and has revealed, day after day, with abundant documentation, the complete negligence of the companies involved that culminated in this tragedy. The English Court will judge civil, not criminal, liability, with due compensation for victims in the event of BHP’s conviction”, concludes the office.
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