Case Marielle: Dino sets February trial for five accused of planning assassination

Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the STF has scheduled a trial for five people accused of planning the murder of Marielle Franco. Among the defendants are Chiquinho Brazão and Domingos Brazão. The case, ready since June, was postponed due to priority trials, such as that of Jair Bolsonaro. The analysis focused on the planning of the crime is set to take place in 2026. Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz, confessed executors, have already been convicted.
The Minister Flávio Dino of the Supreme Court has scheduled the trial of the five accused of planning the assassination of councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL) for February 25th and 26th. The analysis will take place in person at the Supreme Court’s First Panel. The scheduling request was made by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, the case’s rapporteur at the Court.
The defendants in this criminal action are the former federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão, the Rio de Janeiro Court of Accounts councilor Domingos Brazão, former Rio Civil Police chief Rivaldo Barbosa, military policeman Ronald Paulo Alves Pereira, and former TCE adviser Robson Calixto da Fonseca.
The case was ready to be judged since June when the defendants presented their final arguments. However, the agenda of the First Panel was dominated in the second semester by criminal actions related to the coup plot, including the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
As the so-called ‘nucleus two’ of the coup plot will still be judged in the next two weeks, the analysis of the Marielle case is expected to be postponed until 2026.
In May, the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGR) advocated for the conviction of the five defendants. Their defenses deny any involvement in the crime and requested their acquittal.
The trial in the STF focuses on the planning of the crime. Former military police officers Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz have entered into plea agreements and confessed to being the executors of the crime: Lessa fired the shots, while Queiroz drove the car. They have already been tried in the Rio de Janeiro Court and were sentenced to 78 years and 59 years in prison, respectively.