The complaint made by the Attorney General’s Office in the Marielle Franco case reinforces the thesis that the councilwoman’s political activities in the urban and housing field were what motivated her murder in March 2018. According to the Federal Public Ministry, the former’s stance -parliamentarian, “still as an advisor to a PSOL state deputy, she met the wishes of the Brazão brothers”. Before being elected Rio councilor, she had served in Marcelo Freixo’s office in the Rio Assembly.
On Tuesday, the 7th, the deputy attorney general of the Republic, Hindenburgo Chateaubriand, sent to the minister of the Federal Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes the document in which he names the brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão, in addition to the delegate of the Civil Police of Rio, Rivaldo Barbosa, and former PM major Ronald Paulo de Alves Pereira, as those responsible for the crime. In addition to Marielle, her driver, Anderson Gomes, was also killed.
Domingos, Chiquinho and Rivaldo Barbosa have been in preventive detention since the end of March. Major Ronald, in turn, has been in prison since 2019, when he was the target of another operation by the Public Ministry of Rio, accused of leading a militia in the Muzema neighborhood, in the West Zone of Rio. He was once again the target of an operation by the Federal Police this Thursday, the 9th, which also arrested Robson Calixto Fonseca, former advisor to the Brazão brothers and denounced by the MPF for criminal organization.
In the complaint made this week, the PGR also requests compensation from the victims’ families for moral and material damages suffered as a result of the crimes. According to information released by the MPF, the Brazão brothers formed alliances with different militia groups active in Rio de Janeiro since the early 2000s, notably in the regions of Jacarepaguá, Rio das Pedras and Oswaldo Cruz. “The objective was to create electoral strongholds in the areas they controlled and illegally explore real estate activities, through “land grabbing” practices and the use of the informal power of the militias”, says the note.
The investigations also showed that the Brazão brothers maintained partnerships with militia members, including giving positions on committees in the Rio Assembly at the State Court of Auditors. Investigations indicate that Marielle’s actions, as Freixo’s advisor, were the reason for the disagreements with those who ordered the crime. Now president of Embratur, Freixo presided, when he was a state deputy in Rio, over the CPI das Milícias.
