Volkswagen says it will pay $6.4m (£5m) in compensation to former workers at a Brazilian factory who sued the company for collaborating with the country's military during the 1964-1985 dictatorship. 400 people were killed and around 40,000 people were tortured during Brazil's dictatorship.
VW agents gave employees' names to police hunting for people described as "subversives". They were then detained and tortured. Others were sacked and placed on blacklists. Many were unable to find work for years afterwards.
Company security agents monitored employees and informed military authorities when illegal left-wing flyers and newspapers were found.
"The management of VW do Brasil exhibited unreserved loyalty towards the military government," Christopher Kopper, a history professor at Germany's Bielefeld University, found.
"I was at work when two people with machine guns came up to me," Mr Bellentani, an activist, said. "They held my arms behind my back and immediately put me in handcuffs. As soon as we arrived in Volkswagen's security centre, the torture began. I was beaten, punched and slapped."
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