On Tuesday (18), Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF, in Portuguese) begins the trial of five men suspected of involvement in the murders of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Silva.
Domingos Brazão, an advisor to the Rio de Janeiro Court of Auditors (TCE-RJ, in Portuguese), and federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão (no party) will be tried as the masterminds of the crime. They have been in custody since March this year. Robson Calixto Fonseca, Domingos Brazão's advisor, will also be tried.
Rivaldo Barbosa, a Rio de Janeiro police chief accused of being the intellectual mentor of the murders, is also on the list. According to the investigation, he allegedly ordered the Brazão brothers to shoot Marielle. He has also been in pre-trial detention since March.
Ronald Paulo de Alves Pereira, a military police officer and the former head of the Muzema militia, in the west of Rio de Janeiro, is suspected of monitoring Marielle Franco's routine to help plan the assassination.
It was he who discovered that Marielle would be attending an event at Casa das Pretas, on Inválidos Street, on March 14, 2018, and "used the opportunity to carry out the murder.” He is already serving a two-year sentence in closed conditions as a result of two murder cases.
The Supreme Court’s First Panel will begin the trial at 2:30 pm, with Justice Alexandre de Moraes reading the report. Afterwards, the Attorney General's Office (PGR, in Portuguese), responsible for making the accusations to justice in May of this year, will have 15 minutes to defend its arguments.
Next, the defense of each men accused of the crime will give oral arguments. Finally, the other ministers will vote in the following order: Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Luiz Fux and Cármen Lúcia, from the youngest to the oldest names on the Supreme Court.
