Version imprimableThe Federal Supreme Court (STF) issued a landmark ruling on Wednesday, February 25, in one of the most emblematic political cases in the country’s recent history. The First Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court unanimously convicted brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão as masterminds behind the murder of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes, which occurred on March 14, 2018, in the city centre. Each was sentenced to 76 years and three months in prison.
Marielle was shot dead in the Estácio neighbourhood as she left a political meeting. Besides her and Anderson, councilwoman Fernanda Chaves was also targeted in the attack and survived. From the outset, this crime has been seen as a political assassination, characterized by misogyny, racism, and an attempt to silence a Black congresswoman from a favela and a human rights advocate who opposed powerful interests in Rio.
Militias, land grabbing and political conflict
According to the Attorney General, Domingos Brazão, a former advisor to the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Auditors, ordered Marielle’s assassination due to financial interests that would have been jeopardized by the regularization of land titles in areas controlled by militias, particularly in the western part of Rio de Janeiro’s capital. His brother, Francisco Brazão, known as Chiquinho, then a city councillor and later a disgraced federal deputy, allegedly participated in the decision to eliminate the parliamentarian.
The prosecution argued that Marielle was in direct political conflict with the brothers over land-use planning programmes, urban regularization, and the fight against land grabbing, which ran counter to the interests of the militias that profited from this system. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the Brazão brothers were part of an armed criminal organization that operated in an organized manner within political institutions and wielded significant influence over the territory.
In the deliberations that led to the conviction, the case rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, emphasized the political and symbolic nature of the crime.
The political aspect was added to misogyny, racism, and discrimination. Marielle Franco was a poor, Black woman who, let’s say, in the working-class neighbourhood, opposed the interests of the militiamen. What stronger message could have been sent? And in the sexist and prejudiced minds of those who ordered and carried out the attack, who was going to pay any attention to it?
According to Moraes, the masterminds actually underestimated the impact of such a crime.
“In his deposition, from which I will quote some extracts here, the repentant Ronnie Lessa evokes the concern of the masterminds regarding the repercussions, which they had not anticipated ," he said.
Convictions and sentences
In addition to the Brazão brothers, the Supreme Court convicted other individuals involved. Former military police officer Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira was sentenced to 56 years in prison for the murders of Marielle and Anderson and for the attempted murder of Fernanda Chaves. Robson Calixto Fonseca, a former advisor to Domingos Brazão, was sentenced to nine years in prison for organized crime.
Former Rio de Janeiro civil police chief Rivaldo Barbosa was acquitted of direct involvement in the murder but sentenced to 18 years in prison for obstruction of justice, aggravated passive corruption, and organized crime. Ministers determined there was insufficient evidence to link him to the planning of the murder but acknowledged his role in obstructing the investigation.
Despite the harsh sentences, Brazilian law limits the maximum prison term to 30 years. All the defendants remain in prison—with the exception of Chiquinho Brazão, who is serving a sentence of house arrest—and were immediately stripped of their public offices and declared ineligible for office.
Compensation and human impact
The ruling also awarded compensation totalling 7 million reais . Marielle’s family will receive 3 million reais, divided between her mother, father, daughter Luyara Franco, and her widow, Mônica Benício. Anderson Gomes’s family will receive an additional 3 million reais, and Fernanda Chaves, survivor of the attack, will receive 1 million reais .
The trial was marked by a highly emotional atmosphere. Marielle’s daughter felt unwell during the reading of Moraes’s vote and had to be escorted from the courtroom. The city councillor’s mother, Marinete da Silva, also felt unwell. Both returned to attend the end of the session, which was also attended by the Minister for Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, Marielle’s sister.
A blow for Brazil
Following the rapporteur’s vote, Minister Cármen Lúcia emphasized the profound impact of this crime on Brazilian society:
"This trial has caused me a lot of spiritual harm, a lot of psychological harm, a lot of even physical harm these past few weeks [∞] This burst of machine gun fire that rang out in the night did not only shatter the bodies of these people, it wounded all of Brazil."
25 February 2026
Published initially on Movimento. Translated to French by ESSF.
