Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted this Friday, the 15th, to make three police officers defendants for criminal association and obstruction of justice in the case of the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes. The magistrate accepted the complaint from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) against delegates Rivaldo Barbosa de Araújo Júnior and Giniton Lages and Civil Police Commissioner Marco Antonio de Barros Pinto.
In this new process, the PGR pointed out that agents worked with the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro to hinder homicide investigations and guarantee impunity for militia members and criminals, including those involved in the case of Marielle and Anderson, in March 2018.
Rivaldo took over as head of Rio’s Civil Police the day before the crime and, shortly after the murders, appointed Giniton to directly lead the investigations into the case at the Homicide Police Station (DH), where Commissioner Antonio already worked.
The PGR claims that the police officers deliberately diverted the direction of the investigations to falsely incriminate militia member Orlando Curicica and former councilor Marcelo Siciliano, even after other delegates warned that there was no evidence against them. According to the accusation, information pointing to Ronnie Lessa and the Brazão brothers had been ignored by those accused.
“Allegedly, GINITON LAGES, with the consent of RIVALDO BARBOSA DE ARAÚJO JUNIOR and MARCO ANTONIO DE BARROS PINTO, tried to obstruct the investigations so that Orlando Curicica and Marcelo Siciliano were held responsible, even with the indication of other police officers who worked in the investigation that the implications were implausible, without any evidentiary basis”, describes the PGR.
According to the complaint, Giniton tried to pressure Orlando Curicica to confess to participating in the murder and accuse Siciliano as the mastermind. In exchange, he would have promised legal benefits to the militiaman. If he refused, Orlando would be held responsible for several homicides and transferred to the federal penitentiary system.
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After the denial, the delegates would have intensified accusations considered unfounded against him. “Irresigned, Orlando refused, including because he knew that the Homicide Department received monthly payments from other criminals. With his refusal, the malicious indictments that Giniton Lages made against Orlando multiplied”, says the PGR.
The complaint also points out that Marco Antonio helped manipulate witness statements. The PGR maintains that he previously oriented the content of the statements to incriminate people other than the true perpetrators of the crime. Messages seized would indicate that witnesses were instructed what they should say to police.
Furthermore, the police are accused of hiding and losing important evidence in the case. Examples cited include the disappearance of a cell phone seized in connection with the investigation and the failure to collect images from security cameras on the killers’ escape route. The complaint also states that some recordings were kept hidden by the team responsible for the investigation.
Finally, the PGR states that the three police officers were part of a criminal association aimed at protecting the interests of militia members and illegal gambling offenders in Rio de Janeiro. According to investigators, the group worked to obstruct homicide investigations, destroy evidence and guarantee impunity for criminal organizations, including in the Marielle Franco case.
The PGR complaint is being analyzed virtually by the First Panel of the STF. Magistrates have until next Friday, the 22nd, to register the votes. So far, only the rapporteur of the action, Alexandre de Moraes, has voted to make the police officers defendants.
On February 25, the STF unanimously condemned the brothers Domingos Brazão, Chiquinho Brazão, as well as Ronald Alves de Paula, Robson Calixto and also the police chief Rivaldo Barbosa for planning, ordering and trying to cover up the murders of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes. This was the first outcome of the case, 2905 days after the crime that claimed the lives of the councilor and her driver with submachine gun fire.
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