João Francisco Inácio Brazão and Domingos Inácio Brazão sentenced for murder of Marielle Franco, a gay Black woman and rising political star
Two influential Brazilian politician brothers have been convicted by Brazil’s supreme court of ordering the murder of Marielle Franco, the Rio de Janeiro city councillor, nearly eight years ago.
João Francisco Inácio Brazão, the former congressman known as Chiquinho, and the former adviser to Rio’s court of auditors Domingos Inácio Brazão were sentenced to 76 years and three months in prison for the murders of Franco, 38, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, 39.
The crime was one of the most shocking and high-profile murders in Rio’s history and drew international attention: Franco, a gay Black woman, was a rising political star and an outspoken critic of police violence and corruption.
The justices’ decision was unanimous, and the Brazão brothers were also convicted of the attempted murder of Fernanda Chaves, Franco’s press officer at the time, who was in the car and survived.
