Two former Brazilian lawmakers sentenced to 76 years for ordering the 2018 assassination of black activist and councilwoman Marielle Franco
BRASÍLIA: Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced two former lawmakers to 76 years in prison for ordering the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco.
Franco, a popular black and lesbian activist who grew up in a favela, was 38 when she was gunned down alongside her driver Anderson Gomes.
The unanimous conviction of former federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazao, 62, and his brother Domingos, 60, a former state lawmaker, concludes a case that exposed deep ties between politics and organised crime.
The court found Franco was targeted because she threatened the Brazao brothers’ interests from her council position.
She worked to prevent the expansion of clandestine housing developments in poor neighbourhoods, a major income source for militias.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes stated the brothers “didn’t just have contact with the militia. They were the militia.”
He said Franco was murdered to deliver a “message” to Rio’s political class, describing her as “a black woman who dared to go against the interests of militia members, men, and white people.”
Franco’s sister, Brazil’s racial equality minister Anielle Franco, said outside the courthouse that “the political violence based on gender and race that exists in this country must stop.”
Justice Carmen Lucia, the only woman on the Supreme Court, asked “How many Marielles will Brazil allow to be murdered?” noting the process caused her “great spiritual and psychological harm.”
Three other defendants were also convicted for their roles in masterminding the murder.
Former police commissioner Rivaldo Barbosa received an 18-year sentence for obstruction of justice and trying to protect the Brazao brothers.
Former military police officer and militia member Ronald Paulo de Alves was sentenced to 56 years for monitoring Franco’s routine.
Robson Calixto Fonseca, a former advisor to Domingos Brazao, got nine years for acting as an intermediary.
Two former military police officers who carried out the murders received hefty jail terms in 2024.
The investigation into the masterminds relied on plea testimony from one of the shooters, Ronnie Lessa, who was sentenced to 78 years in 2024.
Lessa said during his trial he was “blinded” and “driven crazy” by the prospect of a million-dollar reward for Franco’s murder.
Rio’s militias emerged around four decades ago as self-defense groups against drug gangs.
They evolved into powerful criminal organisations controlling large city parts, extorting residents, and seizing public land with high-level political support.