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full screen An activist wearing a t-shirt with Marielle Franco’s face on it outside the court during the trial. Photo: Silvia Izquierdo/AP/TT
Two former military police are sentenced to 78 and 59 years in prison respectively for the murder of politician Marielle Franco in Brazil in 2014. The two men were arrested back in 2019 and confessed to the murder during a two-day trial that ended on Thursday.
Brazilian law does not allow life imprisonment, and the men will serve no more than 30 years of their sentences.
However, Thursday’s verdict is only seen as a step towards justice. Another trial is expected where two men stand accused of ordering the murder of Franco.
The murder of Marielle Franco, who sat in Rio de Janeiro’s city council, received extensive attention, both in Brazil and internationally, as she was prominent in the fight for the defense of, among other things, human rights for the black population and for LGBTQ people.
Franco was also sharp in his criticism of police brutality, not least in the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro.
She was shot by perpetrators in a passing car in March 2018. Her driver was also shot dead in the attack in central Rio de Janeiro.