During an argument, Germán Andrés Naranjo Maldini called the victim a monkey, made sounds imitating the animal and said that it was a problem for him that the employee was gay.
The defense of Chilean Germán Andrés Naranjo Maldini, arrested at Guarulhos International Airportin São Paulo, last Friday (15), after delivering racist and homophobic comments against a Latam flight attendant, stated that he has no idea what happened.
According to lawyer Carlos Kauffmann, Germán has been undergoing psychiatric treatment for over 13 years and he has been hospitalized for these issues, and because of the medications he takes, he doesn’t know what happened.
The defense also says that he is sorry, “extremely sad, dismayed, embarrassed by all of this, and apologizes publicly to all Brazilians, especially to the crew member Bruno”. THE lawyer also claims that Germán needs treatment and that he petitioned the Federal Court to provide data on his treatment and his mental condition, even though he is in prison.
In a statement given by Germán to the lawyers, He states that he “loves without differences” and that he was “shocked” by his words in the video. He also says that he lost his brother some time ago and that he had drunk too much. The Chilean continues to argue that words do not reflect what he believes and apologized to whoever he hurt.
“Bruno, you’re probably too angry to forgive me, but I hope I have the chance to apologize to you in person. Again: it wasn’t me. My mind was in an altered state,” the text reads.
Understand
against a Latam flight attendant. During an argument, he called the victim a monkey, made sounds imitating the animal and said that it was a problem for him that the employee was gay.
The case occurred on May 10, on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, with a stopover in Santiago, Chile.. The argument would have started because the man tried to open the aircraft door during the flight.
According to the Federal Police, he was arrested for racial and homophobic insults against the flight crew.. “After the formal communication of the victims to the Federal Police, an investigative procedure was initiated that resulted in the preventive detention of the person being investigated by the Federal Court. The individual was located and arrested upon returning from Frankfurt, connecting in Brazil”, said the corporation.
In a statement, Latam Airlines says it strongly repudiates any discriminatory and violent practices. “The company fully collaborates with the Federal Police in the case of the passenger who committed discriminatory violence against one of its crew members on flight LA8070 (São Paulo-Frankfurt), on May 10 (Sunday), and who was detained at Guarulhos airport on May 15 (Friday). Latam also clarifies that it provides psychological support and legal support to the employee who was the victim of this violence.”
Offenses
A video published on X shows the Chilean arguing with airline employees and saying that one of them is “gay”. The employee then asks what’s wrong with being gay.
The Chilean responds: “It’s a problem for me to be gay.” The flight attendant responds, asking if it’s also a problem that he’s black. “Black skin, the odor of black people”, responds the Chilean, in a negative and contemptuous tone.. At that moment, two flight attendants asked the man to return to his seat, otherwise he would be removed from the flight.
The man makes fun of the request and insults the flight attendant again. “You are black, mono (Spanish word for monkey),” he says. Then repeat the word and imitate the animal’s sounds.
A law enacted in January 2023 in Brazil equated the crime of racial insult – when someone is offended due to race, color, ethnicity or national origin – to that of racism. The penalty is two to five years in prison.
“Serial discriminator”
For this Chilean who discriminated against a passenger in the middle of a flight and ended up arrested: “For me it is a problem to be gay, you have black skin, you are cute, you smell black.”
— A Little Bit of Trends (@UnPocoTende)
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
