Preventive prisoners in the Marielle case must be taken to different federal prisons

This Sunday (24), brothers Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão and police chief Rivaldo Barbosa were arrested and presented to the Federal Police headquarters, in the central region of Rio de Janeiro. The arrest took place in the early hours of the day, surprising those suspected of being behind the murder of councilor Marielle Franco in 2018.

According to O GLOBO, Domingos Brazão will remain in the prison in Porto Velho, Chiquinho Brazão will be taken to Campo Grande, while police chief Rivaldo Barbosa will remain in the prison in Brasília, during the investigation process of the case. Before being taken to Brasília, the accused underwent a custody hearing in Rio de Janeiro, while in the DF they underwent a corpus delicti examination at the IML and are in the Papuda prison.

Federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão (União–RJ), Domingos Brazão, advisor to the Court of Auditors of the State of Rio, are suspected of being responsible for Marielle's death, while delegate Rivaldo Barbosa, who headed the Rio Civil Police, allegedly hindered the case investigation process to protect them. The arrest notice was issued due to the high risk of escape for those involved.

The targets were detected after a plea bargain signed by Ronnie Lessa, the Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office. In his testimony, the former military police officer pointed to former police officer Élcio de Queiroz as the author of the shots that killed the councilor. The entire process is being processed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which approved the Murder Inc. operation to elucidate the case.

_{Minister of Justice Ricardo Lewandowski at a press conference about the investigation (Photo: reproduction/Agencia Brasil/MJSP/Jamille Ferraris)}

Supposed motivation for the crime

The disagreements between councilor Marielle Franco and Chiquinho Brazão began around a bill PL174/2016, which sought to formalize a condominium in the West Zone region of Rio de Janeiro.

“It seems to me that this entire voluminous set of documents that we received, this is the extremely significant section, which shows, at least, the basic motivation for the murder of councilor Marielle Franco, who was opposing, precisely, this group, which in the City Council of Rio de Janeiro, wanted to regularize land, to use it for commercial purposes, andwhile the councilor's group wanted to use these lands for social purposes, for popular housing” stated Lewandowski.

According to the investigation, evidence indicates that Domingos Brazão is involved in the subdivision and registration of public lands, without authorization from the competent bodies.

_{Delegate Rivaldo supported Marielle’s family (Photo: reproduction/Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil/Arquivo)}

Impasses in the investigation

Delegate Rivaldo Barbosa, former head of Rio's Civil Police, took office the day before the councilor's execution. Since then, the investigation process has not reached the intellectual masterminds of the crime.

Marielle Franco's mother, Marinete Silva, was surprised by the arrest of police chief Rivaldo, according to G1, she stated that she had a close relationship with the family and promised to clarify the crime.

“My daughter trusted him and his work. And he said it was a matter of honor for him to clarify (the councilwoman's death)”said Marinete.

The police chief knew Marielle, she had already guaranteed his entry into Complexo da Maré, to monitor an investigation into a massacre. He would have entered and left the place with his physical integrity guaranteed.

Featured photo: suspects arrested for the death of Marielle Franco (Reproduction/O Globo)