Eight years after the assassination of bisexual city councilwoman Marielle Franco, Brazil’s Supreme Court opened on Tuesday the trial of two influential politicians accused of having ordered the crime. The LGBT+ and human rights activist was shot to death in 2018 along with her driver, Anderson Gomes, in a targeted attack.
At the heart of the proceedings are Chiquinho Brazão, a member of Brazil’s national Congress, and his brother Domingos, who sat in a regional legislature. According to the indictment, they ordered the murder. Also on the dock are a Domingos Brazão aide, a former police investigator, and a former police officer.
The brothers are said to have maintained close ties with paramilitary groups, known as militias, that wield substantial influence across large parts of Rio de Janeiro and are repeatedly linked to violent crimes. The alleged motive is Franco’s opposition to projects that would retroactively legalize land illegally occupied by militias.
Those already convicted in 2024
The immediate perpetrators — two former military police officers — were already sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2024 (TheColu.mn reported). Now the question is who planned and ordered the attack on the then-38-year-old municipal politician.
During the trial, in a packed courtroom, was also the victim’s sister, Brazil’s Minister for Racial Equality Anielle Franco. Also in attendance was Marielle Franco’s fiancée, the current city council member Monica Benicio. In a column for the newspaper O Globo, Benicio wrote that the “criminal ecosystem that killed Marielle Franco continues to operate and extends its tentacles.”
The proceedings before the Supreme Court are being overseen by Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the conviction of the anti-LGBTQ former president Jair Bolsonaro for planning a failed coup attempt in 2022.
Marielle Franco’s murder on March 14, 2018, had wide-ranging political repercussions. In many cities, particularly Rio, tens of thousands took to the streets. Franco became a symbol in the fight against police brutality, racism, and political corruption. In particular, organizations advocating LGBT, Black, and women’s rights mobilized strongly. Her party, PSOL, gained national prominence.
