Marielle Franco Case: Brazilian Prosecutors Demand 84 Years in Prison for Murderers
Rally to demand justice in the Marielle Franco case. X/ @BLAMCharity
October 30, 2024 Hour: 9:06 am
The material murderers of the leftist councilor are former police officers involved with Rio de Janeiro’s far-right militias.
On Tuesday, the Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office announced it would seek an 84-year prison sentence for two former police officers accused of being the material authors of the murder of socialist councilwoman Marielle Franco.
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The trial against them begins Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro. The Specialized Action Group for Combating Organized Crime, created by the Prosecutor’s Office specifically for the case of the human rights activist, will request the maximum penalty allowed for the defendants.
Both were charged with double homicide, including three counts of aggravated murder, and the illegal possession of the stolen car used in the murders of Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, which occurred on March 14, 2018, on a central street in Rio de Janeiro.
The final hearing of the trial against Ronnie Lessa and Elcio de Queiroz will begin on Wednesday in the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice, and it is expected to last for two or three days. The defendants, in custody since March 2019, will face a jury of seven members, who will be selected at the start of the trial.
The Prosecutor’s Office has summoned seven prosecution witnesses, including the sole survivor of the attack, journalist Fernanda Chaves, who was in the car targeted by the killers. The defendants will be heard via videoconference, as both are held in maximum-security prisons in Sao Paulo and Brasilia.
The Supreme Federal Court, which is handling a separate process involving the accused intellectual authors of the crime, authorized the case’s division, allowing the material authors to be tried in Rio de Janeiro.
Those accused of ordering and financing the councilwoman’s murder are federal congressman Jose “Chiquinho” Brazao, his brother Domingos Brazao, an official at the Rio de Janeiro Court of Auditors, and the former head of the city’s Civil Police, Rivaldo Barbosa. They were implicated in the confession given by Ronnie Lessa, a former Rio de Janeiro police officer and member of the far-right paramilitary groups.
Lessa stated in a judicial cooperation agreement that the three accused hired him to carry out the crime, which was motivated by the councilwoman’s opposition to the militias and her denunciations of real estate dealings involving these mafias in Rio’s favelas. A trial date in the Supreme Court for these three defendants has not yet been set.
The murder of the 33-year-old human rights defender and councilwoman from the Socialism and Liberty Party shocked Brazil and resonated internationally. The leftist activist, a Black lesbian born in a favela, stood out for her staunch defense of human rights, her initiatives supporting minorities, and her opposition to the militias that control dozens of Rio’s poor neighborhoods.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
