Fear of ‘great repercussions’ from Marcelo Freixo’s death led to Marielle’s murder, says PGR | Rio de Janeiro

Councilor Marielle Franco, from PSOL, was killed in March 2018 on the orders of the brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão because an attack against then state deputy Marcelo Freixo would have great repercussions, as he was one of the main leaders of the party at the time.

The information is contained in a complaint made by the Attorney General’s Office to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against deputy Chiquinho Brazão (no party-RJ), his brother, Domingos Brazão, counselor at the Court of Auditors of the State of Rio de Janeiro, and the delegate of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro Rivaldo Barbosa. Military police officer Ronald Alves de Paula, Major Ronald, appointed as former head of the Muzema militia, in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, was also denounced.

“Marcelo Freixo enjoyed great political prominence. Any attack against Marcelo would have great repercussions, increasing the chances of efficient repressive action by the State”, says an excerpt from the complaint.

The complaint cites Freixo’s role in the CPI das Milícias, in 2008, which mentioned the Brazão brothers as beneficiaries of an “electoral corral” in Oswaldo Cruz, a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio run by militiamen. Furthermore, the PGR remembers the actions of Freixo and the PSOL to hinder Brazão’s trip to the State Court of Auditors, in 2015.

According to the complaint, “it was in this context that the political actions of PSOL and, later, of Marielle Francisco da Silva, entered into a collision course with the accused João Francisco and Domingos Brazão, who then decided to kill her, to prevent the councilor continued to harm her interests and to dissuade other PSOL members who intended to adopt the same stance”.

“Due to these factors, driven by the purpose of discouraging any opposition to their economic interests and to impose their legislative proposals, also seeking to meet the needs of the militias of which they were allies, Domingos Inácio Brazão and João Francisco Inácio Brazão decided to kill Marielle Francisco da Silva, which would also serve as a way of intimidating the free exercise of party political activity by PSOL members”, says another part of the complaint.

Brazão family planned militia neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio

The document also brought to light another reason for Marielle’s death: a bill presented by her that went against the Brazão’s interests in the West Zone of Rio, where the family specialized in land grabbing. Marielle’s actions, although incipient, already contradicted the interests of Chiquinho and Domingos.

The complaint also states that Marielle was beginning to deal with issues related to land regulation and transforming empty areas into housing, and this began to interfere with the Brazão family’s business. The Attorney General’s Office even shows land purchase deeds, one of them signed by Domingos Brazão, two months after Marielle’s death, linking the land issue with the councilwoman’s death.

The PGR also reveals how the people involved in the crime would be paid, including former PM Ronnie Lessa, arrested as the executor, and police officer Edimilson Oliveira da Silva, known as Macalé, who was appointed as an intermediary between Lessa and the masterminds. , and ended up murdered in 2021. The Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Police came to the conclusion that they were going to subdivide empty spaces in the Tanque region, in the West Zone of Rio, to form a new militia area. With this, Macalé and Ronnie Lessa would gain the right to explore a housing complex on the site.