STF Upholds R$10,000 Damages Against PCO Leader Over 'Genocide' and 'Nazi' Remarks About Kim Kataguiri

Overview

• The Supreme Federal Court denied follow-up to Rui Costa Pimenta’s extraordinary appeal, keeping the TJDFT ruling that he pay R$10,000 to deputy Kim Kataguiri for moral damages.
• In a February 2024 video, Pimenta called Kataguiri a “genocida,” “nazista,” and “palhaço,” which the courts deemed an abusive attack on honor.
• The dispute arose after Kataguiri filed a popular action seeking to halt federal transfers to UNRWA over alleged links to Hamas financing.
• Dino cited the court’s Súmula 279 and reiterated that judicial intervention is permitted when speech is used to defame or injure rather than to inform.
• YouTube removed the video for policy violations, and both the first-instance judge Tatiana Dias da Silva Medina and the TJDFT concluded Pimenta abused freedom of expression; Kataguiri sought R$30,000 but was awarded R$10,000.