The (Superior Court of Justice) unanimously denied, in a session that ended this Monday (9), an appeal filed by the businessman, owner of the Havan chain of stores, in a case against the Sheet and the reporter.
The case concerns a request for compensation in the amount of R$2 million for a mention in the report “”, published on October 18, 2018. The ministers upheld the decision that denied the claim.
When contacted, Hang’s lawyers did not respond.
The report revealed the purchase of mass messages against () in the week before the second round of the 2018 presidential election, when he was running against (then in the PSL).
In 2020, judge Gilberto Gomes de Oliveira Júnior, from the Civil Court of Brusque (SC), paid R$100,000 for moral damages. The judge considered that there was an offense to the honor of the company and Hang.
A (Court of Justice of the State of Santa Catarina). The judges understood that the report attributes the status of buyer to the company, and not to Hang, and that Havan was unable to prove the existence of damage against it.
The Fourth Panel of the STJ maintained this understanding. The rapporteur, minister João Otávio de Noronha, said that the state court examined the case clearly and reviewing the conclusion would require re-analysis of the evidence, which is not possible at this stage.
The lawyer for Sheet Taís Gasparian says that “the press and journalists could not be ordered to pay compensation for disclosing the truth”. “There is great discomfort when the press sheds light on issues that some prefer to remain in the shadows, but that is precisely the work of the press. It is a legitimate, legal and essential activity for all citizens.”
