Two Brazil politicians convicted over murder of black councilwoman

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday convicted two politicians of ordering the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, in a case that revealed deep ties between lawmakers and organized crime.

The court voted unanimously to convict former federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazao and his brother Domingos, a former state lawmaker, of ordering the hit on Franco, who was gunned down in central Rio along with her driver Anderson Gomes.

Franco, a black, lesbian activist who grew up in a favela and became an outspoken critic of Rio’s militias, was 38 at the time of her murder.

The killing sent shockwaves through Brazil.

The two former military police officers who carried out the murders were given hefty jail terms in 2024.

The four-justice Supreme Court bench concluded that the Brazaos targeted Franco over her opposition to plans that would have “legalized” land illegally seized by militias that control large parts of Rio.

The Brazao brothers “didn’t just have contact with the militia. They were the militia,” presiding Judge Alexandre de Moraes told the court.

Franco was murdered for delivering a “message” to Rio’s political class, the court heard.

She was, said Moraes, “a black woman who dared to go against the interests of militia members, men, and white people.”

Rio’s militias emerged around four decades ago when former police officers and security agents created so-called self-defense groups to protect communities from drug gangs.

They quickly evolved into powerful criminal organizations — controlling large parts of the city, extorting residents and seizing public land — while benefiting from high-level political support.

Culled from vanguard