Brazil’s Supreme Court begins trial of suspects in Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco killing

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SAO PAULO (AP) — The trial of the suspects accused in the 2018 killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver began Tuesday in Brazil's Supreme Court. The shocking, high-profile case turned the politician — who defended the human rights of Brazil's marginalized communities — into a global symbol of resistance.

A five-judge panel will rule on charges against former congressman Chiquinho Brazão; his brother who was a member of a Rio government watchdog, Domingos Brazão; his assistant Robson Calixto Fonseca; police investigator Rivaldo Barbosa and former police officer Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira.

Franco, a Black and bisexual politician, was killed at age 38 along with her driver Anderson Gomes in a drive-by shooting.

All the suspects have so far denied any connection with the killing of the councilwoman.

Prosecutors say many of the charges come from plea bargain deals signed with former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queiroz, sentenced in October 2024 for the killing to 78 and 59 years in prison, respectively.

The Brazão brothers were arrested in 2024 as alleged masterminds of the crime. Investigations have linked them to vigilante groups known as militias, which often antagonized Franco.

Then-Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said at the time of the arrests that the investigations suggested that Chiquinho Brazão was especially upset about a bill that his then-colleague Franco sponsored at the city council about regulation of land for public housing.

The trial started Tuesday morning with Justice Alexandre de Moraes reading a summary of the case. Deputy Attorney-General Hindenburgo Chateaubriand then took the stand to argue that all five suspects should be found guilty as charged.

The prosecutor added that the Brazão brothers led a criminal organization whose primary target was Marcelo Freixo, a leftist politician and current head of Brazil’s government tourism agency, because he interfered with their businesses.

Franco worked with Freixo before she was elected councilwoman.

Cleber Lopes, an attorney for Chiquinho Brazão, said the prosecution based its case on flawed federal police information derived from the testimony of Franco’s shooter and his accomplice driver in their plea deals. He added that his client's alleged involvement with militia groups does not make him guilty in the Franco case.

“People in Rio de Janeiro politics who have never asked drug dealers or vigilantes for their votes may cast the first stone,” Lopes said. “It is not enough to make a generic reference (to Brazão's links to vigilante groups.)”

Voting by the judge's panel is expected to end sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

Chico Otávio, the author of a book about Franco's killing and a crime expert, said the investigation leading to the trial largely depended on the plea bargain testimonies. He added the ruling will come at a moment when Brazil's top court is facing popularity headwinds due to other cases.

“A conviction will be sold to society as a victory against organized crime, but it is not quite that,” Otávio told The Associated Press.

“The same militia groups that could be behind Marielle's killing are even more powerful now. They are spreading to more areas of the city. Society will get an answer about her death, but Brazil will continue to be very far from solving its organized crime problem.”

On Monday, United Nations experts in Geneva called for “justice and remedy for all victims of pervasive systemic racism, structural discrimination and violence in Brazil."

“As we reach this long awaited stage of the judicial process, it is vital that fairness and transparency are upheld and that full justice prevails,” they said in a statement.

Anielle Franco, Marielle's sister and Brazil's racial equality minister, stressed the importance of Tuesday's trial for Brazil's democracy.

She said on X that the killing "opened wide a pattern of violence, racism and misogyny in our country."

“We believe that the judiciary will act for justice and in favor of our people, making our democracy stronger,” she said. “We will never stop fighting for every voice that was knocked out."

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