RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police arrested on Sunday the men suspected of ordering the killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018, a long-awaited step after years of society clamoring for justice.
The brutal assassination of the 38-year-old Black, bisexual Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman in a drive-by shooting shook Brazil profoundly and reverberated across the world.
Two federal police sources with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that congressman Chiquinho Brazão and his brother Domingos Brazão, a member of Rio state’s accounts watchdog, were detained on suspicion of ordering the hit against Franco. Both have connections to criminal groups, known as militias, who illegally charge residents for various services, including protection.
The sources didn’t make clear what their suspected motive was.
On Wednesday, Brazil’s Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said the country’s Supreme Court had validated a plea bargain for the shooter who confessed to Franco’s murder after his arrest in 2019. His confession led to Sunday’s arrests.
Rivaldo Barbosa, the head of Rio’s police when the murder took place, was also arrested for alleged obstruction of the investigation, the sources said.
Franco, the councilwoman, worked as an assistant to then-state lawmaker Marcelo Freixo in 2008, as he presided over a special committee investigating militias in Rio’s state assembly. Freixo’s final report indicted 226 suspected militia members and politicians and government employees, including Domingos Brazão.
Political violence isn’t uncommon in Rio, and such killings are often linked to territorial and political disputes. But they typically go unsolved and never elicit the same level of outcry as Marielle’s death did. She had been a rising political star, making her name by exposing police abuse and violence against residents of working-class neighborhoods known as favelas.
Known universally by her first…
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