PF arrests those responsible for the murder of Marielle Franco

The Federal Police (PF) arrested, this Sunday (24), the alleged “intellectual authors” of the murder of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018, an essential step towards elucidating the crime that caused outrage in Brazil and the world.

The operation in Rio served “three preventive arrest warrants and 12 search and seizure warrants” and targeted “the intellectual authors” of the crime against Marielle and her driver Anderson Gomes, the PF said in a statement.

The three detainees are the counselor at the Rio Court of Auditors, Domingos Brazão; his brother, federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão and the former head of the Rio Civil Police, Rivaldo Barbosa, according to statements to the press by lawyers and victims’ families.

An AFP photographer witnessed Barbosa’s arrival at around 9:30 am Brasília time in a vehicle with a siren turned on at the police headquarters in central Rio, where he was escorted by a police officer.

Vehicles believed to be transporting the other two suspects also entered the building.

This Sunday’s operation takes place a few days after the Court evaluated the confession of one of the suspects of carrying out the murder, who was already in custody.

Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski plans to hold a press conference in the next few hours.

Consulted by AFP, the Federal Police did not provide details about the detainees, who according to the local press are in custody hearings.

Ubiratan Guedes, Domingos Brazão’s lawyer, told journalists at the PF headquarters that his client “did not know Marielle” and that the accusation is “unfounded”.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Dumans, defender of the Civil Police Union, said he will accompany Barbosa in the process.

– “Historic day” –

Marielle Franco, a black woman who defends minorities and criticizes police violence, was shot dead along with her driver on March 14, 2018, when she was 38 years old.

Both were shot by the occupants of another vehicle on a street in the center of Rio.

The arrest of the former head of the Civil Police, Rivaldo Barbosa, who received the victims’ families the day after the murders, surprised the councilor’s inner circle.

“My daughter trusted him and his work. And he said it was a matter of honor for him to elucidate” the crime, Marielle’s mother, Marinete Silva, told GloboNews.

At the PF headquarters, Mônica Benício, Franco’s widow, considered the inclusion of the former police chief among the suspects a “big surprise”.

After six years, Benício thanked the “political will” to move forward with the investigations.

The case has been under the responsibility of the Federal Police since February 2023, after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The councilor’s family celebrated the operation as a “historic day”.

Anielle Franco, Marielle’s sister and minister of Racial Equality, wrote on the X network: “Today is another big step towards getting the answers that we have asked ourselves so many questions in recent years: who ordered Mari to be killed and why?”

“We have a long way to go,” he added in another message.

This Sunday’s operation also aims to advance the investigation into the crimes of “criminal organization and obstruction of justice”, the PF specified in a note.

– Denunciations –

Last week, the government announced that the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) responsible for the case, Alexandre de Moraes, approved a plea bargain with “very important elements”.

It was the testimony of Ronnie Lessa, a former member of the Rio Military Police who is arrested on suspicion of committing the murders.

Lessa would have passed on to the authorities the names of the alleged perpetrators of the crime, whose motivations are still a great doubt.

In 2019, the Public Ministry of Rio stated that Marielle had been “a victim of summary execution due to her political activity and the causes she defended”. But other motivations have not been ruled out.

The case gained strength in July 2023, when the alleged driver of the car that shot, also former military police officer Élcio Queiroz, confessed to his and Lessa’s participation in the crime.

Because of this statement, the police arrested former firefighter Maxwell Simões Correa in Rio, who was allegedly responsible for monitoring Marielle and hiding the weapons used in the attack.

Investigators believe that Lessa and Queiroz have a relationship with the paramilitary militias, denounced by the councilor.

The militias emerged around four decades ago, formed by former police officers, retired military personnel, firefighters and others, as a form of “self-defense” against drug trafficking factions.

But they became mafias that demanded tribute in exchange for this “protection”.

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