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The two assassins of Brazilian elected official Marielle Franco sentenced
Crime has haunted Brazil for more than six years: the assassins in 2018 of Marielle Franco, a black and LGBT elected official and activist, were sentenced Thursday in Rio de Janeiro to 78 and 59 years in prison respectively. On March 14, 2018, the charismatic Rio municipal councilor, who after her death became an icon of the left and the black cause in her country, was riddled with bullets in her car in the city center. She was 38 years old. His driver, Anderson Gomes, was also killed instantly. “Justice is sometimes slow, blind (…) but it arrives,” said judge Lucia Glioche, reading the sentences decided for this double homicide by a jury. popular, at the end of two days of hearing. At this announcement, parents and relatives of the victims present in court embraced each other and burst into tears, including Marielle Franco’s sister, Anielle Franco, Minister of Racial Equality in the government of left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”We will continue the fight (…) to put an end to what murdered Marielle and Anderson, which is this political violence”, reacted to the press Monica Benicio, who was the companion of the local elected official. “Because she was a black woman, from a favela, her killers thought her body was disposable,” she said. Ronnie Lessa had confessed to shooting at Marielle Franco’s car with a machine gun since a vehicle driven by Elcio Queiroz, who also confessed. The first was sentenced to 78 years and nine months and his accomplice to 59 years and eight months. Both tried for homicides and participating by videoconference from their prison, these former members of the Rio military police had entered into an agreement to plead- guilty during the investigation. Their effective sentence will be reduced, due to this collaboration with the justice system, the clauses of which are confidential, judicial sources explained to AFP. According to the G1 information site, Ronnie Lessa will have to serve 13 years and his sidekick seven years, which will be added to the years in prison served since 2019. The prosecution had requested the maximum sentence for each, i.e. 84 years of imprisonment. – “Lure of gain” -The attack had a very great impact , in Brazil and beyond, and shed a harsh light on the power of organized crime in Rio. Quickly, eyes were turned towards organized crime and the possible involvement of militias. These para-police groups are sowing terror in Rio and grabbing land to illegally build a real estate fortune.Marielle Franco stood up against the action of the militias and campaigned against police violence.Ronnie Lessa assured Wednesday that she had been “blinded” and “driven mad” by the multi-million dollar sum offered to commit the crime.”I want to take this opportunity and, with absolute sincerity and regret, ask forgiveness from the families of Anderson and Marielle and (…) to all of society for the evil acts that brought us here,” he said. Prosecutors questioned the sincerity of his repentance. “They decided to kill for profit,” he said. said Thursday the prosecutor Fabio Vieira, who accused the assassins of “sociopaths” without regret. According to the public prosecutor, the shooter and the driver had denied the facts to the investigators before being confused by the evidence of their involvement and then sought an exit by collaborating with justice. – “Not the end” – “It is not yet the end because the sponsors remain”, however underlined Antonio Silva, father of Marielle Franco. Arrested last March after being incriminated by Ronnie Lessa, the deputy Chiquinho Brazao and his brother Domingos Brazao, advisor to the Court of Auditors of Rio, were heard last week by the Supreme Court, as was the former head of the city’s civil police, Rivaldo Barbosa.The two brothers, linked to the militias according to the killer, denied any involvement, as did the police officer, accused of obstructing the investigation. The investigation continues. “Who gave the order (for the assassination) gave it for a financial reason because it was in his interest to silence Marielle’s voice,” prosecutor Vieira said on Thursday.ll-tmo/ vgu
