Brazil Supreme Court Hands Decades-Long Sentences in Marielle Franco Assassination Case

Brazil's Supreme Court has delivered lengthy prison sentences to five men convicted of plotting the 2018 assassination of human rights activist and politician Marielle Franco, bringing a measure of closure to one of the country's most closely watched criminal cases.

The unanimous ruling by a panel of justices on Wednesday marked the culmination of a trial that exposed deep connections between political power, corruption, and organised crime in Rio de Janeiro. All five defendants received substantial prison terms for their roles in the conspiracy that led to Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes being gunned down on 14 March 2018.

"Human justice is not capable of soothing this pain," Justice Carmen Lucia told the victims' families whilst delivering the verdict.

At the time of her death, Franco was a 38-year-old city councilor in Rio de Janeiro, just one year into her term with the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party. A Black woman who had risen from the favelas—Brazil's densely populated, low-income neighbourhoods—she had become a powerful voice for marginalised communities, campaigning for the rights of LGBTQ people, racial minorities, and women.

Franco had also gained prominence for her outspoken criticism of excessive police violence in the favelas and her efforts to expose illicit land appropriations by local authorities. It was this latter work that ultimately proved fatal.

Prosecutors established that former Congress member Chiquinho Brazao and his brother Domingos Brazao—a councillor on Rio's state audit court—masterminded the assassination after Franco disrupted their lucrative scheme to seize public lands for private development. The brothers, once considered among Rio's most powerful political figures, were arrested in 2024 and each sentenced to 76 years imprisonment.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, in announcing his vote, characterised the murders as part of a "militia modus operandi," carried out "to preserve financial gains and to maintain political power."

Three additional co-conspirators received significant sentences. Robson Calixto Fonseca, an assistant to the Brazao brothers, was handed a nine-year term for criminal conspiracy. Among law enforcement officials implicated, former police investigator Rivaldo Barbosa received 18 years for passive corruption and obstruction of justice, whilst police officer Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira was sentenced to 56 years for murder and attempted murder.

The breakthrough in the case came from the two men who actually carried out the drive-by shooting. Former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Elcio Queiroz, arrested in 2019, signed plea deals that exposed the broader conspiracy and led directly to the Brazao brothers' arrests. They themselves were sentenced in October 2024 to 78 and 59 years respectively.

The attack occurred after Franco attended an evening debate in Rio de Janeiro. A vehicle pulled alongside her car and an assailant fired 13 bullets, killing Franco and Gomes instantly and injuring an aide. Prosecutors have consistently maintained the assassination was designed to silence Franco and prevent her from challenging powerful vested interests.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International described this week's hearings as a "decisive test" of Brazil's "willingness to confront impunity." Observers have credited the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who returned to office in 2023, with creating the political conditions necessary for a thorough investigation to proceed.

For Franco's supporters, the verdict represents a landmark moment in Brazil's struggle against political violence and corruption, though the wounds left by her loss remain deep.