Unaí massacre: 13 years later, masterminds of the crime remain at large.

The National Union of Labor Inspectors (Sinait) is holding an event this Wednesday (25) to demand the arrest of those responsible for the murder of three labor inspectors and a driver from the Ministry of Labor, which became known as the Unaí Massacre. Thirteen years after the crime, those responsible remain at large, despite having been convicted. The event will take place in front of the headquarters of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, in Brasília.

According to the president of Sinait, Carlos Silva, those who ordered the crime continue to file appeals to remain free. “Almost 13 years after the massacre, despite the 2015 conviction of the Mânica brothers, the masterminds of the crime, they remain free. They are using delaying tactics to stay free. The appeals are at the TRF (Regional Federal Court) and that is why we are protesting so that the sentence that convicted the masterminds is actually enforced,” he said.

The convicted men want a new trial. “They (the Mânica brothers) are trying to overturn the sentence and thus force a new trial, this time in Unaí, a region where they are politically and economically powerful. The perpetrators have already been tried, convicted, and are in prison. Now it remains for the scenario of impunity to be dispelled and for those who ordered the killings to also be arrested,” said Carlos Silva.

In addition to this protest, the union is organizing another event this afternoon at 15 pm at the Ministry of Labor headquarters.

Understand the case

January 28th was established as Labor Inspector's Day and National Day to Combat Slave Labor in honor of inspectors Eratóstenes de Almeida Gonsalves, João Batista Soares Lage, and Nelson José da Silva. They were killed in 2004 while investigating allegations of slave labor on farms in the Minas Gerais city of Unaí. The vehicle's driver, Ailton Pereira de Oliveira, also died in the massacre.

In 2013, the perpetrators of the crime were convicted of aggravated homicide. Rogério Alan Rocha Rios was sentenced to 94 years in prison, Erinaldo de Vasconcelos Silva to 76 years, and William Gomes de Miranda to 56 years.

In October 2015, the Federal Court of Minas Gerais convicted Antério Mânica, Norberto Mânica, Hugo Alves Pimenta, and José Alberto de Castro. The convicts received sentences close to 100 years of imprisonment in a closed regime. Hugo Alves Pimenta, as a cooperating defendant, had his sentence reduced, receiving a sentence of 46 years, 3 months, and 27 days of imprisonment.

The four filed delaying appeals with the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region – TRF 1, in Brasília, requesting a change of venue for the trial held in Belo Horizonte (MG). With this appeal, the convicted individuals are attempting to overturn the decision of the jury in the Minas Gerais capital, transferring the case to the Federal Court of Unaí, Minas Gerais, to be entitled to a new trial.