Family of fisherman killed during World War II loses lawsuit.
A crew member of the fishing boat Changri-L, a fisherman died in a German submarine attack in 1943. His grandchildren were seeking compensation of R$ 5 million.
Fernando Porfírio_247 - The Federal Court in Rio de Janeiro denied war reparations to the family of a fisherman killed during an attack by a German submarine in Brazilian territorial waters in 1943, during World War II. The crew of the fishing boat Changri-Lá perished in the shipwreck. The compensation sought was over R$ 5 million. The plaintiffs are the grandchildren of the deceased fisherman.
More than 60 years later, the grandchildren initiated legal proceedings, requesting that the Federal Government be ordered to pay compensation for material damages, in the amount that would have been paid to their deceased father. In addition, they requested R$1 million for each of the five grandchildren for moral damages, alleging financial hardship due to their grandfather's absence.
The Attorney General's Office (AGU), however, argued that the authors' grandfather did not actually participate in military operations and that the fact that he disappeared during an enemy attack does not make him a former combatant entitled to a pension.
According to the Union's lawyers, the dismissal of the claim is aggravated by proof that the father of the plaintiffs was never entitled to any alleged pension, as he was 24 years old at the time of the shipwreck and was not disabled. For the prosecutors, these arguments rendered the claim for reimbursement of unpaid pensions unfounded. Consequently, there would be no grounds for compensation for moral damages.
The lower court accepted the arguments of the Attorney General's Office (AGU), a decision that was also upheld by the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region (TRF2), after an appeal by the plaintiffs. The AGU's defense was accepted with the conclusion that, since there was no right to a pension, the Union could not be held liable for moral damages.
The judge, who was the rapporteur for the case at the TRF (Regional Federal Court), highlighted that regarding the right to a veteran's pension, if applicable, the right could be claimed by the plaintiffs' grandmother. "However, there is no evidence in the records that she claimed such a pension during her lifetime," she stated.
Regarding moral damages, the rapporteur stated that the request is equally unfounded, "since there are no moral damages for the delay in recognizing a right that does not exist."