Weekly Report - 26 February 2026 (WR-26-08)

A panel of four supreme court (STF) justices convicted the masterminds of the high-profile murder in 2018 of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco (2017-2018) and her driver Anderson Gomes on 25 February. The assassination has highlighted the connections between politicians, policemen, and organised crime, especially Rio’s criminal gangs known as ‘milícias’, and Franco’s killing has become an emblematic case of violence against human rights defenders.