Brasília, 10/11/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - A former president of the Chamber of Deputies, deputy Inocêncio Oliveira (PFL-PE), has been fined R$530,000 for keeping 53 workers in a slave- type situation on one of his farms in the state of Maranhão.

The vice president of the Senate, Paulo Paim (PT-RS), declared that it is time for Brazil to remove the stain of slavery once and for all. He pointed out that Brazil was the last country to officially abolish slavery in the last century, but that during the 116 years since then it seems the practice persists. Paim, speaking during an interview on Radio Nacional AM, pointed out that a UN report says that there are 30,000 people in Brazil working in slave-type situations.

Paim said that the new government has made progress dealing with the problem, "Just this year the number of cases of slave-type labor (4,000) that inspectors have found is double what it was last year. The numbers show that the crackdown has been efficient."

As for deputy Inocêncio Oliveira, the chief justice of the Superior Labor Court, Francisco Fausto, declared that it looks like he is really guilty, although the fine was only a preliminary sentence which can be appealed. Fausto said he was in favor of the approval of a constitutional amendment which automatically expropriates land used for slave-type labor. "As long as that amendment is not law, the main punishment for this kind of crime is public disapprobation," he said. (AB)