The Marielle Franco affair soon to be clarified? Brazilian police announced on Sunday March 24 that they had launched an operation to arrest the alleged sponsors of the assassination, in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, of this black elected official from a favela who was fighting in particular against the militias.

The police had warrants to arrest 15 people in Rio, targeting the “sponsors” of the crime, the police said, without giving further details.

According to the local press, among those arrested are the former advisor to the Court of Auditors of Rio Domingos Brazao and his brother, the deputy Domingos Brazao, as well as the former head of the civil police of Rio Rivaldo Barbosa. The police have not commented on this information.

“Today, a big step has been taken to try to obtain the answer to the question that we have been asking ourselves for years: who killed Mari, and why?”, rejoiced on X Anielle Franco, sister of Marielle and currently Minister for Racial Equality.

Acceleration in the investigation

Last Tuesday, the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, said he hoped for a "rapid" resolution of the case, after a key confession from the man accused of shooting the victim.

Ronnie Lessa, a former member of the Rio military police, currently in prison, is said to have given the names of the masterminds of the crime.

A black elected official from a favela, Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes were killed on March 14, 2018 in a street near the center of Rio de Janeiro.

A figure in the fight for the rights of the black and LGBT+ communities, this 38-year-old municipal councilor was coming out of a debate with young black women. As she was driving home, her car was riddled with bullets.

The men already in prison are suspected of being linked to paramilitary militias who sow terror in certain working-class neighborhoods, denounced on numerous occasions by Marielle Franco. 

The investigation remained the responsibility of the Rio prosecutor's office for a long time but it was taken over by the Federal Police in February 2023, after left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came to power.

With AFP

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