Brazil & Southern Cone - April 2026

The supreme court (STF) has convicted the masterminds behind the high-profile assassination in 2018 of Rio de Janeiro councillor Marielle Franco (2017-2018) and her driver Anderson Gomes. Former lawmakers João Francisco ‘Chiquinho’ Brazão and Domingos Brazão, along with their accomplices, were each sentenced to over 76 years in prison for planning the murder of their political opponent. The case highlights the intersection of organised crime and corruption, and the convictions have been hailed as a landmark victory against impunity. This verdict provides a sense of closure to a case that has become an international symbol of the struggles faced by social activists in Brazil, which ranks among the deadliest countries for human rights defenders.

Nearly eight years after Franco’s death in March 2018, the trial of the masterminds behind her assassination concluded on 25 February, with a panel of four STF justices ruling against the Brazão brothers and their accomplices –former chief of the Rio civil police, Rivaldo Barbosa; Ronald Paulo de Alves, a former military police officer, and Robson Calixto Fonseca, a former aide who worked for Domingos Brazão. Chiquinho had served as a Rio city councillor (2005-2019) and later as a deputy in the federal congress (2019-2025), and his brother had served as a Rio state deputy (1999-2015) before sitting on the council of Rio’s state audit tribunal (TCE-RJ).

It was during Chiquinho Brazão’s time on the Rio city council that Franco and her left-wing party, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL), emerged as an obstacle to the Brazão family’s interests in local real estate dealings in parts of Rio believed to be controlled by criminal gangs known as ‘milícias’. Franco built her local political reputation on being a vocal campaigner and human rights defender who stood up for Rio’s marginalised communities especially those living in the city’s favelas, who are often extorted by the milícia gangs that allegedly have ties to corrupt police officers and politicians. 

The trial of the Brazão brothers and their associates was also closely watched by human rights groups. On 24 February international NGO Amnesty International released a statement saying that justice for Franco was “long overdue” and describing the trial as a “historic opportunity to break the cycle of impunity that has characterised the state’s response to the killings of human rights defenders for decades”, as well as expressing regret over the fact that it has taken eight years for this trial to take place, which highlights how “the Brazilian justice system fails to provide swift, effective, and respectful responses”. Amnesty International also cited figures from another NGO, Global Witness, highlighting that 342 land and environmental defenders were killed in Brazil between 2012-2021, which is the highest tally in the world for this period.

A similar statement released on 23 February by human rights experts at the United Nations (UN) framed the trial not only as the “final chapter in the fight for justice for Franco and Gomes, but also an important milestone in addressing structural impunity for racism, intersectional discrimination and violence against human rights defenders, women, people of African descent and LGBTIQ+ persons in Brazil.” The statement went on to highlight Franco’s legacy as an activist who spoke out against systemic racism, structural discrimination, and police brutality. The Brazilian STF justices who ruled against the defendants on 25 February also framed Franco’s assassination as an act of violence to silence a black woman who grew up in a favela and devoted her career to standing up for favela residents.

Prison sentences

The main plotters of the assassination, Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão, were each handed prison sentences of 76 years and three months. Rivaldo Barbosa, who obstructed the initial police investigations into the killing, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The other two accomplices, Ronald Paulo de Alves and Robson Calixto Fonseca, were sentenced to 56 years and nine years respectively.