Two men arrested in probe into 2018 killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman

Federal police in Brazil have arrested the men suspected of ordering the killing of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018.

The assassination of the 38-year-old black, bisexual Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman in a drive-by shooting shook the country profoundly.

Two federal police sources with knowledge of the investigation told the Associated Press that congressman Chiquinho Brazao and his brother Domingos Brazao, a member of Rio state’s accounts watchdog, were detained on suspicion of ordering the hit.

Both have connections to criminal groups known as militias, who illegally charge residents for various services, including protection.

The sources did not make clear what their suspected motive was.

On Wednesday, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said Brazil’s Supreme Court had validated a plea bargain for the gunman who confessed to Franco’s murder after his arrest in 2019. His confession led to Sunday’s arrests.

Rivaldo Barbosa, head of Rio’s police when the murder took place, was also arrested for alleged obstruction of the investigation, the sources said.

Ms Franco worked as an assistant to then-state lawmaker Marcelo Freixo in 2008 as he presided over a special committee investigating militias in Rio’s state assembly.

Mr Freixo’s final report indicted 226 suspected militia members and politicians and government employees, including Domingos Brazao.

Political violence is not uncommon in Rio and such killings are often linked to territorial and political disputes.

They typically go unsolved and never elicit the same level of outcry as Ms Franco’s death did.

She had been a rising political star, making her name by exposing police abuse and violence against residents of working-class neighbourhoods known as favelas.

Known universally by her first name, she grew up in a favela herself, the Mare neighborhood near Rio’s international airport.

She became a human rights activist there after her friend was killed by a stray bullet in a shootout between police and drug traffickers.

She worked for a state lawmaker investigating organised crime, then went on to win a seat in Rio’s city council in 2016. She kept receiving and sharing complaints of police abuse until days before she was killed.

She stood out as one of the only black women on the council and while her assertiveness and mere presence ruffled some, she remained unbowed.

On the evening of March 14, 2018, she left an event to empower young black women when a car pulled up alongside hers and opened fire. Ms Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were killed.