The Brazilian Higher Court of Justice released eight Vale employees who were under temporary arrest since February 15th, due to the Brumadinho dam collapse, on January 25th.
The episode caused the death of 179 people, and other 131 are still disappeared.The decision is temporary and was granted until a Minas Gerais state court can rule over a habeas corpus petition from one of the defendants - the employees can be arrested again if the state judge rules it so.
The habeas corpus was requested by the attorney of risk manager Alexandre de Paula Campanha, but the decision also applies to the other detained Vale employees: Joaquim Pedro de Toledo, Renzo Albieri Guimarães Carvalho, Cristina Heloiza da Silva Malheiros, Artur Bastos Ribeiro, Marilene Christina Oliveira Lopes de Assis Araújo, Felipe Figueiredo Rocha and Hélio Márcio Lopes da Cerqueira.
They were all in management roles or belonged to technical teams that directly supervised the Corrego do Feijão mine, where the dam was located.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV
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