Politicians formally charged for Marielle Franco murder

Congressman Chiquinhão Brazão. Photo: Clelia Silva/CD

The Federal Prosecution Office on Tuesday charged Congressman Chiquinho Brazão and his younger brother, Domingos Brazão, for the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro City Councilor Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes.

The charges were sealed, only being revealed by news website G1 on Thursday and confirmed by The Brazilian Report.

The Supreme Court will decide whether the Brazão brothers will face trial for allegedly ordering the assassination of Ms. Franco.

The Brazão brothers and former Rio state police chief Rivaldo Barbosa were arrested on March 24 for obstruction of justice in the case, a development that made massive headlines in Brazil. The União Brasil party quickly expelled Mr. Brazão from its ranks. On April 10, the House upheld the Supreme Court decision that led him to jail.

The final Federal Police report on the case concluded that the Brazão brothers were the masterminds of the crime due to their involvement with so-called “militias,” the urban paramilitary police mafias that control vast territories in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Back in 2017, when Mr. Brazão and Ms. Franco were both local lawmakers in Rio, he supported (and she opposed) a bill to extend deadlines to regularize land use in neighborhoods in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro city. This would allow people in the region — namely, members of the militias themselves — to sell land to future homeowners and order City Hall to provide services such as water, sanitation, and electricity.

Congressman Tarcísio Motta, who also served as a Rio city councilor at the time and was a friend of Ms. Franco, had told The Brazilian Report that the bill “would have expanded the militias’ power.” City Hall regularly demolishes such illegal buildings in the so-called West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The legislation was ultimately struck down in a local court.

Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes were shot dead on the night of March 14, 2018. One year later, two former police officers were arrested under suspicion of having committed the double murder. In 2023, Élcio Queiroz confessed to participating in the hit as the getaway driver, and earlier this year, trigger man Ronnie Lessa also struck a plea bargain confessing to being the shooter.

The House Ethics Committee is separately discussing a motion to impeach Mr. Brazão.