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Transport of the arrested to Brasília (on March 24th)

Photo: Evaristo Sa / AFP

The case had not left Brazil alone, and now it is apparently about to be solved: six years after the murder of city councilor Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, two politicians and a former police chief were arrested as suspected backers.

Brazil's federal police said they executed three arrest warrants and twelve search warrants in Rio on Sunday as part of the investigation into the murder of Franco and her driver and the attempted murder of her assistant on March 14, 2018.

The three arrested were the then head of Rio's civil police as well as a member of the National Congress and his brother, a member of the Audit Office of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski announced this at a press conference. Police investigations revealed that a dispute over commercial use of land was a primary motive, he said.

Franco was shot in her car at the age of 38. She was considered a beacon of hope for the Brazilian left. As a city councilor for the PSOL party from 2017, she campaigned for the residents of the favelas, Rio's slums, and spoke out against police violence. The lesbian Afro-Brazilian came from a favela herself. A former police officer was arrested as a suspected shooter but has not yet been brought to justice. He is now said to have provided information about the people behind it.

Sister of the Dead speaks of justice

There was speculation that Rio's powerful militias, which are recruited from current and former police officers, were involved. According to the police on Sunday, they were also investigating the formation of a criminal organization and obstruction of justice.

Franco's sister Anielle became minister for ethnic equality in the government of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last year. "Today is a historic day for Brazilian democracy," says a statement from Anielle Franco's family that Anielle Franco published on Sunday on the X platform, formerly Twitter. The arrest of the alleged commissioners of the murder is an important step in the search for justice.

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