On March 14, 2018, the official car in which Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco was traveling with her press secretary, Fernanda Chaves, and driver Anderson Gomes was intercepted in the city center by another vehicle, which opened fire on the councilwoman's car. Marielle, 38, and Anderson, 39, were killed in the shooting. Fernanda miraculously survived.
The assassination of the councilwoman and her driver shocked Brazil and the world. Marielle was a poor, left-leaning Black woman who confronted a corrupt system marked by vast social inequality. She denounced police brutality and the systematic violation of human rights, as well as the paramilitary groups operating in the area. Marielle was a beacon of hope in a country where injustice has been perpetuated for many years. A courageous and much-loved woman. Her death turned her into a symbol, and from that moment on, her smiling face has adorned building facades, been printed on t-shirts, and spread everywhere with one objective: to achieve justice. To find out who murdered the councilwoman and the driver. The motive was practically obvious.
Now, eight years later, Brazil's Supreme Court has ruled on the case. Now, eight years later, Marielle and Anderson are gone, but justice has been served. The justices have unanimously concluded that the murder was ordered by João Chiquinho Brazão, a former federal deputy, and his brother Domingos Brazão, a councilor of the Rio de Janeiro Court of Accounts, were sentenced to 76 years in prison. Former police officer Ronald Paulo Alves was sentenced to 56 years, while the former head of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police, Rivaldo Barbosa, and the Brazãos' advisor, Robson Calixto Fonseca, received 18 and 9 years, respectively. The judges determined that it was proven that the Brazãos led a paramilitary group and ordered Marielle Franco's assassination because the city councilwoman was hindering their illegal activities. But the most important aspect of the ruling, as expressed by the investigating judge, Alexandre de Moraes, is: "This is an episode of gender-based political violence to silence a poor, Black woman who dared to confront the interests of wealthy, white men." message The objective for the killers was clear: arrest Marielle and anyone else who appeared with the same intentions. But the judge added: "The defendants' mistake was that they did not foresee the enormous repercussions that her death would have."
Eight years ago, it seemed impossible to get to this point. Despite the public outcry to solve the case, the investigations, the responsibility of the local police, were not progressing. Their chief, now sentenced, was in charge of obstructing them. Coincidentally, the murder coincided with the rise of the far right in Brazil. Coincidentally, too, Jair Bolsonaro, who would unfortunately be elected president of the country in October of that same year, had begun his political career as a city councilman in Rio de Janeiro. With Bolsonaro in power, everything remained at a standstill. It wasn't until the new government of President Lula da Silva that it was decided that the investigation would be taken over by the Federal Police, and from then on, the path to finding those who gave the order to kill Marielle began.
Friends and family today, eight years later, leave reconciled. It is no small feat that justice has prevailed. Their years of demanding it have not been in vain. Marielle was not left alone, not even after death. On the contrary. And that is the message. Marielle present, today and always!
