This footage shows the moment a doctor filmed a black worker on his farm handcuffed and chained up while saying he was “in his slave quarters”.
Doctor Macio Antonio Souza Junior has been fined BRL 300,000 (GBP 48,260) for racism.
The defendant filmed the incident, which he later labelled as just a joke, on Jotoba farm, which he owns near the city of Goias, Brazil, on 15th February 2022.
The unnamed black farmhand can be seen in the footage with handcuffed hands, his legs chained to an iron pole and a restraining piece of iron around his neck.
Souza can be heard laughing in the clip, with the uncomfortable farmhand sheepishly laughing along with him.
Souza reportedly obtained the handcuffs and chains from a church on his farm before putting them on his farmkeeper.
After Souza shared the video online, netizens warned him to take down the clip, but he disagreed.
Some netizens who saw the video reported it to the Goias police.
He subsequently shared another post online saying: “We wrote a script together, it was like a movie, a joke.
“I had no intention of hurting, irritating or condoning anything.
“I would like to apologise if anyone felt offended; it was a theatrical performance.”
The Goias civil police investigated Souza and his farmkeeper, for whom he was paying the Brazilian minimum wage, which is around BRL 1,320 (GBP 212) per month.
After investigations, a judge in the city’s criminal court, Erika Barbosa Gomes Cavalcante, ordered Souza to pay BRL 300,000 (GBP 48,260).
The compensation will reportedly be split between charities.
Judge Cavalcante said: “This is an absolutely criminal video, highlighting the crime of racism against a black person, with equipment used during the time of slavery, which is why there is no need to say that it was a joke because recreational racism is a crime.”
The doctor’s lawyer said that he planned to appeal.
