Former military police officer Ronnie Lessa, from Rio de Janeiro, who is accused of killing city councilor Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes, supposedly pointed to Domingos Brazão as the mastermind of the murder that occurred on March 14, 2018. However, the plea bargain has not yet been validated by the country’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ, in Portuguese). Brazil’s news website Intercept Brazil published the info on Tuesday morning (23).
Lessa has been in prison since March 2019 and was condemned in July 2021 for destroying pieces of evidence about the case. The negotiations between the former military police officer and the Federal Police began shortly after federal agents entered the case in February last year, following a decision by the Lula (Workers’ Party) government.
Domingos Brazão denies participation
A long-time politician currently an advisor at the Court of Auditors of Rio de Janeiro (TCE-RJ, in Portuguese), Brazão denied being the mastermind of the crime in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Metrópoles, on Tuesday. “I not even know Marielle Franco. I heard about her after her tragic killing.”
Brazão also said he does not know Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Queiroz, another former military police officer from Rio de Janeiro accused of being the driver of the car used on the day of the crime. Last July, Queiroz also made a plea bargain with the Federal Police. On the occasion, Domingos Brazão was cited as the mastermind of Marielle’s murder.
Domingos Brazão was supposedly mentioned by Ronnie Lessa / Divulgação/ Alerj
“I’m not sure whether they really mentioned my name (…). If they did so, I don’t know their intentions with it. Maybe it’s a maneuver. I cannot judge it. I don’t know what is going on. I believe in God and justice. If they mentioned my name to protect someone, the challenge posed to the authorities will be to understand who they are protecting,” said Brazão to Metrópoles.
“The other hypothesis is that the Federal Police is making it against me, making me bleed, but it has its own line of investigation and will surprise everyone. I cannot think about other things but this. I’m not afraid of an inquiry [against me]. I don’t know these people. I never saw them.”
Official information
Unlike Élcio Queiroz's plea bargain, which was approved by the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice (TJ-RJ), Ronnie Lessa's plea bargain has not yet been approved. It will be ratified by the STJ, which indicates that Lessa may have mentioned someone who has privileged jurisdiction. It will be up to Minister Raul Araújo to decide whether or not to accept the accusation.
So far, the only official information is that the plea bargain was agreed and that it will have to be ratified, if accepted, by the STJ. Unless it has been ratified, the plea bargain is still invalid, that is, it is just statements that cannot lead to the masterminds being held accountable.
The prerogative of office provides for investigation, prosecution and judgment only in collegiate bodies for those who hold certain positions in public administration, such as the President of the Republic, parliamentarians, magistrates and many others. A federal deputy, for instance, could only be investigated by the Federal Court at higher levels.
According to the Intercept Brasil, Domingos Brazão's lawyer, Márcio Palma, said he did not know his client's name was mentioned in Ronnie Lessa's accusation. Palma also said that everything he knows about the case comes from the press, since he asked for access to the case file and was denied because Brazão was not under investigation. In previous interviews, Domingos Brazão has always denied any involvement in the crime.
Brazão had also been cited in the investigation of Marielle’s murder due to an accusation by then Attorney General Raquel Dodge. On her last day as Attorney General, in October 2019, Dodge filed a complaint with the STJ naming Domingos Brazão as a suspect in an attempt to obstruct investigations.
“He is suspected of obstructing the investigations, attempting to drive the works in a way that would not reach the masterminds. He's not accused [as the mastermind of Marielle's murder]. He's pointed out as someone who acts so that the course of the investigation takes another direction," he said in an interview with UOL in June 2020.
Federal Police statement
Following the release of the report, the Federal Police published a statement in which it said that, "to date, there has been only one plea bargain in the investigation of the case, duly ratified by the Judiciary".
"The investigations remain confidential, with no date set for their closure. The dissemination of information that is not consistent with reality compromises the investigative work and exposes citizens," said the Police Federal without mentioning the Intercept Brasil report or Domingos Brazão.
In the same vein, Malu Gaspar, columnist at O Globo, published that the federal government fears that the Intercept Brasil publication will jeopardize the ratification of the plea bargain and the punishment of those who ordered the crime. According to the text, Ronnie Lessa's family members do not agree to the deal for fear of reprisals.
Lessa's lawyer, Bruno Castro, is also against the plea bargain as a "matter of legal ideology". "If he really made a plea bargain, I'm automatically out of the case. I don't advise whistleblowers. It doesn't matter if it's the Marielle case or the chicken stealer case," he said.
Also on Tuesday, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, said that "to have a plea bargain, it needs approval". In the same tone as the Police Federal, Dino said there was "speculation". "I believe that, unfortunately, there is speculation. Speculation that, sometimes, is irresponsible. Sometimes it's self-interested speculation by those who want to embarrass or harm investigative work. There is a general expectation, but at the moment, there is nothing to confirm this and, at the same time, there is no deadline."
Anielle Franco, Brazil’s Minister of Racial Equality and Marielle Franco's sister, also took a stand on her X profile (formerly Twitter) following the Intercept report. "We will not stop until justice is done. Our family awaits the official announcements and results of the investigations. We are aware of the authorities' commitment to solving the case. The answer to this crime - who killed Marielle and Anderson and why - is the duty of the Brazilian state," she wrote.
Another thing mentioned in Ronnie Lessa's plea bargain is what motivated Marielle Franco's murder. According to Lessa, Marielle became a target after she started defending a land occupation by low-income people in an area allegedly coveted by the mastermind, in Jacarepaguá, in the west area of Rio de Janeiro. Marielle was fighting for the area to be classified as being of social interest. The mastermind of the mastermind of the crime, on the other hand, wanted to use the area for commercial purposes.
Edited by: Vivian Virissimo
