Ap
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, November 1, 2024, p. 20
Rio de Janeiro. A judge yesterday handed down long sentences to two former police officers for the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro councilor Marielle Franco, an icon of Brazil’s political left, whose murder sparked outrage.
Ronnie Lessa was sentenced to 78 years and nine months, and Élcio de Queiroz was sentenced to 59 years in prison for the drive-by shooting on March 14, 2018 that killed Franco and his driver, Anderson Gomes. The jury determined that Lessa fired the gun and de Queiroz was the driver on the night of the crime.
Lessa and De Queiroz, arrested in 2019, previously signed plea deals confessing their roles, but the jury had the final say on their guilt on murder and other charges. The verdict, although expected, comes as a consolation for many who saw the martyrdom of the black and bisexual woman as an attack on democracy, and worried that the crime would go unpunished.
Prosecutors had argued that each man should be sentenced to the maximum possible sentence of 84 years for the three charges: double homicide, attempted homicide and driving a stolen vehicle.
When Judge Lucía Glioche finished reading the sentence, applause broke out in the courtroom while the families of the victims began to cry.
Known by her first name, Marielle was raised in a favela, a poor community in Rio de Janeiro. She became known for her efforts to improve the lives of ordinary residents. After her election in 2016, she fought against violence directed at women, while defending human rights and social programs.
