The murderers of Marielle Franco, a councilor and activist from Rio de Janeiro, are sentenced to 78 and 59 years in prison

THE former police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queirozconfessed murderers of the Rio de Janeiro councilor Marielle Franco and his driver Anderson Gomeswere sentenced this Thursday to respectively 78 years and nine months, and 59 years and eight months in prison.

A jury found the former police officers guilty of the 2018 double homicide that shook Brazilian politics, after which the judge set the prison sentence.

In addition, the murderers were ordered to pay a pension to Gomes’ son until he reached the age of 24 and to compensate each of the victims’ relatives with 706,000 reais (about $120,000) for damages. moral.

“Justice is sometimes slow, blind, clumsy, but it even reaches the accused who believe they will never be arrested,” the judge said.

However, having signed collaboration agreements with the prosecutor’s office, the murderers will only serve a sentence maximum of 18 years in closed regime and the rest, in open or semi-open mode. The sentence handed down this Thursday will only be applied in the event of non-compliance with the agreement by the convicted.

During the two days of the trial, testimony was heard from Lessa, who said she received the responsible for killing the advisor because it was an obstacle to the sale of land linked to militias, the paramilitary groups that control areas on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, Lessa, in prison since 2019, apologized to the victims’ relatives “with absolute sincerity and regret” and said that with his statement he hoped to “relieve” the anguish caused after the murder.

However, prosecutor Eduardo Martins questioned the sincerity of this regret and said the murderers were “sociopaths” who only confessed when they were “cornered” by the evidence and hoped to gain advantages. in exchange for their collaboration.

On the other hand, the former police officer said that His intention was not to assassinate Gomesthe driver of the vehicle Franco was in, and claimed that the weapon used was not “adequate”.

The prosecution also rejected this explanation, pointing out that Gomes was shot four times, the same number as the city councilor, and that the assassins sought to avoid being identified by the driver.

Lessa accused federal deputy José “Chiquinho” Brazão, his brother Domingos Brazão and former Rio civil police chief Rivaldo Barbosa of being the intellectual authors of the assassination, who have not yet been tried by the Supreme Court.

Franco, left-wing activist Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), was shot dead on March 14, 2018, after participating in a political event in central Rio.

A black woman, lesbian and born in a favela, Franco stood out for her energetic defense of the human rights of the most needy and for her fight against the mafia groups that dominate the city’s poor communities.