TRF6 Reverses Acquittals and Convicts Samarco and Three Managers

Overview

• A three-judge panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 6th Region overturned parts of a lower-court ruling on Thursday and convicted three former Samarco operational managers for crimes tied to the 2015 Fundão dam rupture.
• The court sentenced Daviély Silva and Germano Lopes to eight years and nine months in prison, and Wagner Alves to seven years, three months and 14 days, with differing initial regimes for serving the terms.
• Samarco was fined R$1 million to be paid to the National Environmental Fund and barred from contracting with public authorities for ten years, while Vale, BHP, VOGBR and several other executives remained acquitted.
• The appeals that led to the reversal were filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and families of the victims, who argued repeated failures in dam monitoring and preventive measures caused the disaster.
• The decision changes a decade-long legal trajectory over one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters, affects survivors and victims’ families seeking accountability, and is likely to be re-litigated because defendants and prosecutors have signaled further appeals.