A Brazilian judge sentenced two former police officers to long terms for the 2018 murder of prominent leftist Mariel Franco

RIO DE JANEIRO — On Thursday, a judge handed down long sentences to two former police officers for the 2018 killing of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Mariel Franco, an icon Brazil the political left, whose assassination sparked outrage.

Ronnie Lessa and Elcio de Queiros were sentenced to nearly 79 years and nearly 60 years, respectively, for the March 14, 2018, shooting that killed Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomez. The jury found that Lessa fired the gun and that de Queiroz was the driver on the night of the crime.

Lessa and de Queiros, arrested in 2019, previously signed plea deals admitting their roles, but the final say on their guilt on the murder and other charges was left to a jury. The sentence, while expected, was a measure of consolation for many who saw the martyrdom of a black bisexual woman as an attack on democracy and worried that the crime would go unpunished.

Prosecutors argued that each man should be sentenced to a maximum of 84 years on the three counts of double murder, attempted murder and driving a clone car.

When Judge Lucia Gliosh finished reading the verdict, applause broke out in the hall, and the families of the victims began to cry. Mariel’s sister, Aniel Franco, Brazil’s minister for racial equality, cried for a long time as she hugged her parents and Mariel’s daughter, Luyara Franco. Her father rested his head on the chest of former congressman Marcelo Freixo, who was her political mentor.

Brazilian law does not provide for life imprisonment, and each man will serve a maximum of 30 years in prison. Because of their sealed plea deals, local media reported that Queiroz and Lessa could receive 12 and 18 years in prison, respectively, including time already served. Prosecutors deny the mitigation of the sentence.

In any case, Thursday’s verdict is seen as just a step toward justice, as another trial awaits the men accused of ordering her murder.

Commonly known by her name Mariel, she grew up in one of the Rio’s poor communities known as favelas. She became famous for her efforts to improve the lives of ordinary people. After her election in 2016, she fought against violence against women, defending human rights and social programs.

Testimony on Wednesday during the first day of the trial told details about the moments that preceded and after the shooting. Among those who testified were Franco’s assistant and friend, who was also in the car, Fernanda Chavez, as well as Franco’s mother and her partner, Monica Benicio.

Suffocated and often unable to speak, Benicio said the last thing Mariel said to her was “I love you.”

“We had plans to get married with a wedding. When Mariel died, I felt like they took away our promise of a future,” she said, later adding that the right to a fair city was one of Mariel’s causes.

“Mariel also defended the right to decent housing in terms of the favelas, the periphery, that was the theme of the city’s rights program.”

Both defendants participated in the court session via video conference from prisons. Lessa is based in Sao Paulo and de Queiroz is based in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

Federal authorities began seriously investigating the case when leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2023.

Following the sentencing of Lassie and de Queiroz, attention will now turn to the men accused of ordering the murder: two brothers who are probably connected to criminal gangs known as militias, which illegally charge residents for various services, including protection.

Guillermo Catrambi, a federal police detective, told the court on Wednesday that the killing was “undoubtedly” motivated by Mariel’s land rights work, particularly in the western part of Rio de Janeiro. Her work there was “a thorn in the side of the interests of the militia,” Katrembi said.

In March Federal police arrested two brothers, federal lawmaker Chicinho Brazao and his brother Dominguez BrazaoMember of the Rio State Auditing Department. They deny any involvement in the killing or involvement in the militias and have not yet appeared in court.

During the plea deal, Lessa told police he was hired by his political brothers and said he was signed off on by then-state civil police chief Rivaldo Barbosa. Barbosa, who also denies involvement, was arrested in March.

“To say how much my daughter was missed, what was missed during these six years and seven months, it is impossible to define. It is impossible to describe my pain, what I have gone through over the years,” said Marinete da Silva, Mariel’s mother. “It’s pain, it’s lack, it’s emptiness. It’s a heart that has a piece of it that was unjustly, cowardly ripped out on that night of March 14, 2018.”

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Sa Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.