Brazil: What is next after the conviction of Marielle Franco's killers?

Six years and seven months after the killing of the Brazilian politician and her driver, two men were convicted for the crime

Originally published on Global Voices

Six years, seven months and 17 days since the killing of Rio de Janeiro's city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes, this October 31, a people's jury sentenced two men for the crime. Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queiroz were convicted with penalties of 78 years and nine months and 59 years and eight months in prison. The Public Prosecution, which asked for 84-year sentences, declared they would appeal.

The verdict feels like the first step in a long road to justice for one of the most prominent crimes in Brazil's political history. Since the night of March 14, 2018, when Franco's car was ambushed, and she was murdered alongside Anderson, her name and face became a symbol of the strength and risks for Black women in politics worldwide.

In her sentence, judge Lúcia Glioche talked about the meaning of justice for this case, saying the jury itself is a democracy and democracy was something Marielle always stood up for. She continues:

A Justiça por vezes é lenta, é cega, é burra, é injusta, é errada, é torta, mas ela chega.

A Justiça chega mesmo para aqueles que, como os acusados, acham que jamais vão ser atingidos pela Justiça. Com toda dificuldade de ser interpretada e vivida pelas vítimas, a Justiça chega aos culpados e tira deles o bem mais importante depois da vida, que é a liberdade.

Justice is sometimes slow, blind, stupid, unjust, wrong, crooked, but it arrives.

Justice comes even for those who, as the defendants, think they will never be reached by it. With all the difficulties to be interpreted and lived by the victims, Justice comes to the culprits and takes from them the most important good after life itself, which is freedom.

In an interview with the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Franco's sister, Anielle Franco, who is currently the minister of racial equality under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government, spoke about the meaning of the sentence for their family:

A gente preferia mil vezes a Mari aqui. Mas olhar para trás e ver tudo que a gente fez foi um sentimento de que a justiça começou a ser feita, de que a nossa luta tem valido a pena. Mas a nossa dor e a falta da Mari vão continuar.

A justiça chegou para a minha família. Infelizmente, não chega para muitas das famílias do nosso país, mas ali não era só pela Mari, pelo Anderson, era por todos aqueles familiares de vítimas de violência.

We would rather a thousand times to have Mari here. But looking back and seeing everything that we did, it's a feeling that justice began being served, that our fight has been worthwhile. But our pain and how we miss Mari will go on.

Justice has arrived to my family. Unfortunately, it doesn't to many families in our country, but this case wasn't just for Mari, for Anderson, it was for all the families of victims of violence.

For years, Lessa and Queiroz, who were arrested in March 2019, close to the killings’ first anniversary, denied being responsible for the crime. Their story changed in 2023 after signing deals with the prosecution that led them to identify who ordered Marielle's killing. The deal can also reduce their time in prison.

Lessa and Queiroz are both former military police officers. Lessa, who was a mercenary as reported by the newspaper O Globo, had sent people to execute Franco's killing on New Year's Eve, a few months before the crime. He lived in the same residential complex as former president Jair Bolsonaro, in Rio, a place called Vivendas da Barra, where the police found an arsenal with parts of 117 rifles.

According to the investigation and their own confession, Lessa, who got a longer sentence, was the person who pulled the trigger and shot at the politician's car, while Queiroz was the driver responsible for lining up the vehicles for the execution.

After their deal, they claimed the crime was ordered by brothers Chiquinho e Domingos Brazão, with a police investigator, Rivaldo Barbosa, as the intellectual mentor of the crime. The three men were arrested in March 2024 and denied the accusations.

Both Brazão brothers have political careers — Chiquinho was a federal deputy, while Domingos is a former city councilor and state deputy. Domingos was pointed as a suspect since 2019. The brothers and three other suspects will be judged at the Supreme Court (STF) since Chiquinho has a special forum as a Congressman.

The General Prosecution Office (PGR) says Franco was killed to protect the financial interests of a local militia (paramilitary groups formed by retired and active police officers in Rio) and to discourage other actions by the political opposition, reported Agência Brasil. Franco was affiliated to PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party), a leftist party.

Franco's father, Antônio Silva, as reported by news outlet Metropoles, said:

Hoje tivemos uma resposta com a condenação dos réus confessos. Para nós, era de suma importância a condenação deles. Se a Justiça não tivesse condenado esses assassinos cruéis, não teríamos um minuto de sossego. Agora a pergunta que vamos fazer é: quando serão condenados os mandantes?

Today we had an answer with the conviction of the confessed killers. For us, it was extremely important to have their conviction. If the Justice hadn't sentenced these cruel murderers, we wouldn't have a minute of calm. Now the question we will make is: when will those who ordered the crime be convicted?

Marielle Franco, a queer Black woman, was born and raised in the Maré favela complex, one of the largest in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and was elected as a city councilor for the first time in 2016. She received 46.502 votes, ranking as the councilor with the fifth most votes in that election.

On the night of March 14, 2018, she participated in a round table discussion about Black women moving structures in the downtown area of Rio when the killers approached her moving car and hit her with four shots to the face.

After the crime, the question ”Who killed and who ordered the killing of Marielle and Anderson” echoed in protests around the world. A navy-blue sign used to identify streets in Brazil, with her name on it, also became a symbol present in manifestations; the first one was put up in the City Council area, Cinelândia, but after a man running for Congress destroyed it, over 30,000 signs were produced and spread.

To carry on her legacy and the issues dealt with by her cabinet, an institute with Marielle's name was created by her family, and several candidacies inspired by her appeared in national and city elections since then.

Her widow, Monica Benício, is currently a re-elected city councillor since 2020, and her sister, Anielle, became minister of Racial Equality with President Lula's government in 2023. Marielle's daughter, Luyara, told O Globo:

A minha mãe me ensinou a fazer política de várias formas, não só de forma partidária. Hoje temos o Instituto Marielle Franco e eu estou como diretora de legado, onde nós preservamos a memória dela. A minha forma de fazer política e de estar com os movimentos é essa.

Acho que a dor e o vazio nunca vão embora, eles vão estar aqui eternamente. (…) Só espero que eu continue amadurecendo mais, levando o legado e fortalecendo a história dela, da mesma forma que ela sempre me fortaleceu e faz isso até hoje.

My mother taught me that there are several ways to do politics, not only through parties. Today we have Marielle Franco's Institute and I'm the legacy director, where we preserve her memory. My way of doing politics and being with movements is this.

I think the pain and emptiness will never go away, they will be here forever. (…) I only hope to keep maturing, carrying her legacy and strengthening her story, the same way she strengthened me and still does.

Written by Global Voices Brazil