Three Rio officials held in connection with killing of activist

Arrests made in 2018 murder of Marielle Franco

RIO DE JANEIRO — For years, Brazilians have asked the question, “Who ordered Marielle’s killing?”

Since the 2018 killing of the leftist politician and human rights activist Marielle Franco, in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians have plastered that question onto T-shirts, onto walls, and posted it on social media. The name Marielle became a rallying call for the left.

Now, six years after her assassination, police say they’re beginning to answer that question. Brazilian federal police arrested three well-known and politically connected Rio de Janeiro officials Sunday, naming them suspects in Franco’s killing and providing a rare look at the connections human rights activists have long alleged between the city’s entrenched political elite and the criminal militias that now control a wide swath of this turbulent metropolis.

In an operation named “Murder Inc.,” police arrested federal Rio congressman Chiquinho Brazão, Rio state auditor Domingos Brazão, and a former city police chief, Rivaldo Barbosa. The former police official was also accused of undermining the investigation.

Chiquinho Brazão and his brother Domingos have alleged connections to criminal groups, known as militias, who illegally charge residents for various services, including protection.

Ubiratan Guedes, the lawyer representing Domingos Brazão, denied the accusations against his client. “He did not know Marielle, had no connection with Marielle,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Lawyers for Chiquinho Brazão, who served on Rio’s council at the same time as Franco, and Barbosa, said their clients denied any wrongdoing.

Brazil’s justice minister, Ricardo Lewandowski, said at a news conference that the motivation for the crime is “complex because that group (the Brazãos) has multiple interests.” He said investigations have suggested lawmaker Chiquinho Brazão was upset about a bill that his then-colleague Franco sponsored at the City Council about regulation of land to build public housing in Rio.

“At this moment we have it very clear who are the perpetrators of this hateful, heinous crime of political nature,” said the minister, who added that four other people had documents seized. Among them, he said, is a police detective who also investigated the case.

The investigation into Franco’s murder had been troubled for years. Rio’s state civil police couldn’t break the case after the arrest and indictment of the shooter and the driver in 2019. The lead detectives were changed four times before February 2023. Federal authorities then attempted to take control of the case, but were not allowed to, which also increased suspicions of obstruction, according to Lewandowski.

The driver admitted to the double murder of Franco and her driver. The shooter, disgraced former police officer Ronnie Lessa, signed a plea bargain deal with authorities.