Those accused of the crime of Brazilian Marielle Franco, councilor and human rights activist, are sentenced to 78 and 59 years

( Spanish) – The Brazilian justice system sentenced former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz to 78 and 59 years in prison respectively, for the murder of Brazilian councilor and human rights activist Marielle Franco.

Ronnie Lessa received a sentence of 78 years and 9 months, and Élcio de Queiroz 59 years and 8 months.

Franco, a young and popular Brazilian politician, was shot dead on March 14, 2018 after participating in a political rally in downtown Rio de Janeiro, and her death sparked protests across the country.

The Brazilian activist was an energetic defender of human rights, according to rebuilds Brazil. He graduated in Sociology from the Catholic University of Rio and then obtained a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Fluminense Federal University.

She entered politics as an advisor to the then state deputy Marcelo Freixo, affiliated with the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), with whom she participated in the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights and Citizenship of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro. In 2016 she was elected councilor of the city of Rio de Janeiro for the PSOL.

She identified herself as “a woman, black, a mother and raised in the Maré favela” and a feminist. He dedicated his life to fighting mafias and defending the poor communities of Rio de Janeiro.

For everything his struggle represented, his murder generated massive protests throughout the country and demands for justice from international human rights organizations.

At the trial, Marinete Silva, Franco’s mother, gave heartbreaking testimony in which she spoke of the emptiness she felt over her daughter’s death. “A woman who cared about the well-being of the entire family,” she said and said that Franco helped a lot at home, including raising her sister, Anielle Franco, who in early 2024 was appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula. da Silva as Minister of Racial Equality.

He also reported that after the crime he sent a message to his deceased daughter’s cell phone. “My daughter! “What did they do to you?” the message said. A mother’s delirium, to imagine that all that could not be true. It was the pain that crossed my chest in a few days [después del atentado]“she said, visibly moved.

“They took a part of me away. Every time it hurts, it hurts a lot,” Silva said.

After the crime, Silva created the Marielle Franco Institute, which has “the mission of inspiring, connecting and empowering thousands of young, black, LGBTQIA+ and peripheral people to continue moving the structures of society,” as detailed in your website.

“Marielle opened a space in politics for those who had never felt represented, shedding light on the causes of forgotten communities and dedicating herself to strengthening the basic rights of those who needed it most,” reads the website, while demanding that do justice.

Franco was ambushed as she left participating in an event titled “Young Black Women Moving the Structures,” on Rua dos Inválidos, in Lapa, central Rio. He was traveling in the back seat of his car when another vehicle approached and one of the occupants shot from inside.

Anderson Gomes, the driver of the vehicle in which Franco was traveling, also died in that attack. Fernanda González Chaves, Franco’s advisor, was the only survivor of the attack and one of the main testimonies at the trial.

According to what González Chaves told the trial, on the night of the crime they were both talking in the car when he heard a blast and crouched down. At that moment, he noticed that the driver winced and let go of the steering wheel. The vehicle had been hit by bullets, but was still moving. “Marielle was motionless and her body fell on top of me,” the witness explained. Next, González Chaves, still crouching, pulled the handbrake and crawled out of the car. He went looking for help and, he said, thought Franco was fainted. She asked for help, managed to send a message to her husband and some time later the Military Police appeared.

“My life changed completely. There is no normality. “I had to leave the country, they told me to leave my house immediately,” said the witness.

Lessa and de Queiroz were arrested in 2019 and charged with the crimes of double homicide, attempted homicide, and receipt of the stolen vehicle used in the crime. In 2023, the prosecution reported that, in an agreement signed with the MPRJ, Élcio de Queiroz confessed that he was driving the car used in the attack and confirmed that Ronnie Lessa fired the shot.

During the trial, Lessa declared that the motive for the crime was economic. “I became blinded,” he admitted, and said that the payment he had been promised in exchange for killing the councilor was 25 million reais (US$4,323,690).

“What some people told me is that she would be in the way, that she would get in the way,” the former police officer stated. According to Lessa, the masterminds of the crime told him: “[Marielle Franco] “It has become a stumbling block and we are going to proceed because of that.”

He also declared that he regretted having committed the crime and asked for forgiveness from Franco and Anderson’s relatives.

attempted to contact legal representatives for both defendants for comment.

In a parallel investigation, there are three other people accused of being the intellectual authors of the crime. They were denounced after Lessa’s confession, within the framework of a judicial cooperation agreement, according to the EFE news agency.

They are federal deputy José “Chiquinho” Brazão, who was a councilor at the same time as Franco, his brother Domingos Brazão, an official of the Court of Accounts of Rio de Janeiro, and the former head of the Civil Police of Rio Rivaldo Barbosa. Both the Brazão brothers and Barbosa have denied the accusations against them. They will be tried by the Supreme Court, although there is no set date yet.

This report was made with information from Brasil, EFE and Ivonne Valdés, from Español.