The 6th Panel of the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region) recognized the former president () as a political amnestied and established compensation of R$400,000 for moral damages due to the persecution and torture suffered by her during her military service, in addition to the right to economic compensation in “monthly, permanent and continuous” installments.
The board’s decision partially changes the previous sentence, which had restricted this second payment to a single installment of R$100,000.
The value of the monthly payment to which Dilma will be entitled will still be calculated, according to the TRF-1 ruling, based on the remuneration she received when she was removed from work during the dictatorship.
While the Union and the Amnesty Commission defended discharge through a single installment, limited to R$100,000, the TRF-1 understood that, as she had an employment relationship with the Foundation for Economics and Statistics at the time of the persecution, Dilma was entitled to the monthly installment regime provided for in article 5 of law no. 10,559/2002.
The decision establishes that the value of the pension must be equivalent to what the former president would receive if she had been active, considering the functional evolution she would have had in her career if she had not been removed for political reasons.
The judges highlighted the “exceptional seriousness” of the acts committed against Dilma Rousseff. The ruling details that she was subjected to successive sessions of electric shocks, pau-de-arara, drowning and absolute isolation, which resulted in permanent physical consequences.
Faced with the brutality of human rights violations, the Union tried to argue that there was a statute of limitations (missing the deadline to sue), but the court rejected the thesis.
The judges reaffirmed that actions for compensation for moral damages resulting from acts of torture and political persecution are imprescriptible, as the right to human dignity does not expire over time.
In his vote, judge Flávio Jardim highlighted that amnesty is an instrument of social reconciliation. He emphasized that “full reparation for political amnesty is not just an act of individual justice, but an essential contribution to lasting social reconciliation”, reinforcing that political persecution is incompatible with the Rule of Law.
The decision extinguishes the process with a resolution on the merits, confirming Dilma Rousseff’s political amnesty status and imposing on the Union the obligation to update the payments due according to the Justice criteria.
In May, the Amnesty Commission had approved the recognition of Dilma as a political amnestied, a request that had been rejected in 2022, during the government of ().
Filed in 2002, the PT member’s request for compensation was suspended, at her own request, when she assumed the position of Minister of State and remained paralyzed while she was President of the Republic. After the , in 2016, she appealed to have the request processed again.
In April 2022, the minister denied the compensation request. The former president’s defense appealed.
In the 1970s, Dilma joined organizations opposing the dictatorship, including VAR-Palmares, one of the main groups in the armed struggle. She was arrested and tortured.
In , she described being subjected to pau-de-arara, electric shocks and paddles. and being punched in the face, which led to lasting consequences.
