Berlin, Europe Brief News – Volkswagen is facing the heat in Brazil after allegations that the carmaker was guilty of using ‘slavery-like’ practices during the 1970s and in the first few years of the 1980s.
Volkswagen has been summoned before a labor court in Brazil on June 14 and faces accusations of using “slavery-like practices” and “human trafficking” in the country between 1974 and 1986.
The automaker was notified by the judiciary in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 19, reports Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The German giant said it is taking these accusations very seriously.
“We can assure you that we take the possible events at Fazenda Rio Cristalino, to which the investigation by the Brazilian investigating authorities refers, very seriously,” Volkswagen told Reuters. “Please understand that we are not commenting further due to possible legal proceedings in Brazil.”
According to documents made up of testimonies and police reports consulted by the German outlet, the automaker was working on a large agricultural site on the edge of the Amazon basin for the meat trade.
The lead prosecutor on the case, Rafael Garcia, told AFP that investigators had collected depositions from victims who were lured to the farm with false promises of lucrative jobs, then forced to cut down the jungle under grueling conditions against their will to make way for Volkswagen’s cattle ranch, which became the biggest in the northern state of Para.
“Workers who tried to escape were beaten, tied to trees and left there for days,” he said.
“Those who tried to slip into the forest never came back — there were simply stories that they had been killed. Workers were systematically, physically abused.”
