MPF calls for conviction of 37 more dictatorship agents involved in the death of Carlos Marighella

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a new public civil action this Thursday, the 9th, to hold 37 former agents of the military dictatorship responsible in the civil sphere for the death of the communist leader and former federal deputy from Bahia Carlos Marighella, one of the greatest opponents of the military regime, in 1969.

The measure calls for, among other penalties, the loss of retirement benefits for those involved, the return of funds spent by the Union on compensation granted to Marighella’s family, and the payment of compensation for collective moral damages caused to society by political repression. In the case of defendants who are already deceased, the heirs will be responsible for the reparations.

The petition also seeks to preserve the memory and clarify the events that occurred during the military government. The MPF demands that the State of São Paulo and the Union, also defendants, hold a public act of reparation in memory of Marighella and include the episode in spaces of remembrance about the dictatorship.

Several of the former agents mentioned are already defendants in two other public lawsuits filed by the MPF in March and August, referring to the illegal imprisonment, torture, death and disappearance of 34 activists during the dictatorship. Some have also been denounced in a lawsuit filed in May, which seeks criminal conviction for qualified homicide and ideological falsehood.

One of those involved in both allegations is former police chief Sérgio Paranhos Fleury, who led the operation. Forensic doctor Abeylard de Queiroz Orsini, co-author of the autopsy report, is said to have concealed the real circumstances of Marighella’s death, in line with the official version that he resisted arrest. He is also a defendant in the new request.

Falsifying reports was a common practice at the Legal Medical Institute (IML) of São Paulo, an institution that cooperated intensely with the repressive bodies throughout the dictatorship, helping to cover up crimes and exonerate agents from blame.

The federal prosecutor and author of the MPF action, Ana Letícia Absy, highlighted that the Amnesty Law, created to protect agents of the regime, does not invalidate the need for accountability for crimes committed.

“The law was created only to privilege and benefit those in power, seeking to achieve exactly the same goal that still persists: not to punish crimes or compensate for acts committed by state agents when they leave power. And to this day, unfortunately, it is fully achieving its objectives,” said the prosecutor.

Marighella, who led the National Liberation Alliance (ALN), was killed in São Paulo in an ambush organized by the Department of Political and Social Order (Dops) on November 4, 1969. He was executed unarmed, despite the possibility of being arrested. He was considered “public enemy number 1” of the dictators and described as “the head of terrorism in Brazil” by Fleury.