Brazilian police are separating suspects in Marielle Franco’s death into separate and distant prisons

Three suspects of ordering and planning the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco, shot dead along with her driver Anderson Gomez on a street in Rio de Janeiro on March 14, 2018, were divided this Wednesday into three different prisons in several regions of Brazil. . The decision is aimed at preventing the three suspects, who have strong political power and influence in police circles, from developing a common defense, combining leads or even planning a rescue operation.

The alleged masterminds of the brutal murders are federal deputy Chiquinho Brazao and his brother, Domingos Brazao, an adviser to the Court of Auditors of the State of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the former head of Rio de Janeiro, suspected of carefully planning the attack. Janeiro Police, Rivaldo Barbosa, were arrested at dawn on Sunday in as a result of an unexpected action launched by the Federal Police (FF). At dawn this Wednesday, the three, who had been in separate wings of the maximum security Federal Penitentiary in Brasilia since their arrest, were divided into prisons located thousands of kilometers apart in an operation that involved large security apparatus and aircraft. police and with the support of the Federal Penitentiary Police.

Deputy (Inspector) Rivaldo Barbosa will remain in the Brasília prison under constant surveillance, while Deputy Chiquinho Brazão has been transferred to another federal maximum security prison, in Campo Grande, capital of the state of MMAto Grosso do Sul, and his brother Domingos Brazão , went to Porto Velho prison in the remote state of Rondonia, also run by the central government. The three prisons are more than two thousand kilometers apart and very far from Rio de Janeiro, the electoral stronghold and area of ​​greatest influence of the three.

According to the Federal Police report confirming the arrests, Chiquinho and Domingos decided to kill Mariel because a young left-wing adviser was interfering with their illegal business in a large area of ​​Rio de Janeiro’s western zone controlled by a militia to which they are both allegedly affiliated. The idea was presented to Rivaldo Barbosa, head of the entire police force of the state of Rio de Janeiro, who, according to the PF and the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which ordered the arrests, used his knowledge to carefully plan the attack, carried out by a former police officer Ronnie Lessa, who has been in prison since 2019 and who last November entered into an agreement with the justice system in exchange for a reduced sentence and brought charges against the three.