MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Brazão brothers sentenced to 76 years for ordering Marielle Franco killing

Justices described the killing as a political crime tied to maintaining territorial control and economic gains linked to criminal structures

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Wednesday convicted brothers Domingos Inácio Brazão and João Francisco Inácio Brazão — known as Chiquinho — of ordering the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes. The court imposed 76 years and three months in prison on each brother, in a unanimous ruling in one of the country’s most high-profile political violence cases.

The STF also issued convictions against three other defendants. Former Rio civil police chief Rivaldo Barbosa was sentenced to 18 years for passive corruption and obstruction of justice; former police officer Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira received 56 years for the murders and attempted murder; and Robson Calixto Fonseca was given a nine-year sentence for participating in a criminal organization. The court also ordered 7 million reais in moral-damages compensation to victims’ families.

In their opinions, justices described the killing as a political crime tied to maintaining territorial control and economic gains linked to criminal structures. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led the case, said the accused acted believing the fallout would be limited, adding: “They did not expect such wide repercussions.”

Franco was killed on the night of March 14, 2018, as she left an event in central Rio. Her official car came under gunfire; Franco and Gomes died at the scene, while Fernanda Chaves, Franco’s press officer travelling in the vehicle, survived.

Prosecutors relied on plea agreements with former police officers already convicted of carrying out the attack. In October 2024, Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queiroz were sentenced in Rio to 59 and 78 years in prison, respectively.

Marielle’s sister, Anielle Franco — Brazil’s minister for racial equality — called the verdict a milestone against gender- and race-based political violence, writing: “Impunity cannot be part of our democracy.” More broadly, a recent academic report recorded 760 political assassinations in Brazil between 2003 and 2023, in addition to attempts and death threats.