The Federal Police inquiry indicates that the PSOL councilwoman Marielle Franco was murdered "for being seen as an obstacle" to the interests of brothers Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão.
Investigators correlated statements from former police officer Ronnie Lessa, suspected of being the perpetrator of the crime and who closed a plea deal on the case, with data on the former councilwoman's political activities and alleged criminal activities of the Brazão brothers, mainly related to militias and land grabbing.
"Based on the facts depicted in Ronnie Lessa's plea deal, the determining motive for her death would be related to a matter played out more discreetly by her parliamentary mandate, namely: the defense of the right to housing," says a passage from the approximately 500-page PF report.
"The statements about the animosity of the Brazão Brothers towards PSOL politicians are considered plausible," the report says. The police highlight discrepancies between Marielle and Chiquinho Brazão in the Rio City Council's discussion on a bill "designed to ease [land] regularization rules."
"It is worth noting that this scenario intensified precisely in the second half of 2017, attributed by the collaborator as the origin of the planning of the execution under investigation, a time when we emphasize Chiquinho Brazão's uncontrolled reaction to Marielle's performance in the tight vote on PLC No. 174/2016," the PF also says.
The agents also point out "several indications" of the brothers' involvement with militias and land grabbing. "Finally, the political divergence on land regularization issues and defense of the right to housing was outlined."
"Thus, despite the scarcity of direct evidence resulting from the clandestine nature of the negotiations that Ronnie Lessa alleges to have had with Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão, it is possible to infer that his statements about the motive that led to the death of councilwoman Marielle Franco are plausible in light of the data and indications presented."
In the representation submitted to Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the PF stated that "the crime was committed through vile motivation, due to the repugnance of the Brazão brothers regarding the political activities of Marielle Franco and her colleagues in the face of their sinister interests."
The police also assert that the negotiations for the crime were done clandestinely, "during brief encounters in deserted locations," and that this scenario compromised the confirmation "of the fatal agreement and its respective motivation." "Thus, only the assessment of the apparent veracity remains for the valuation of the information provided by the perpetrator of the victim," wrote the PF.
In a press interview on Sunday (24), the Director-General of the Federal Police, Andrei Passos Rodrigues, stated that the investigation into the masterminds, intermediaries, and perpetrators of the crime is closed.
The statement was made hours after the PF arrested current federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão (União Brasil-RJ), Rio's State Court of Auditors (TCE) councilor Domingos Brazão, and former Rio Civil Police chief Rivaldo Barbosa.
They are accused of ordering the assassination of Marielle and driver Anderson Gomes in March 2018.
The PF chief also said that the motive for the murder needs to "be looked at in context." "We cannot say there was a single and exclusive event."
"There are several situations involving the councilwoman that led this opposition group [to commit the crime]. The minister spoke of the political issue surrounding this situation, also involving militias, territorial disputes, and that in that context, it is important. I will always emphasize, we analyze this looking back six years, where there was this dispute and that culminated in this barbaric murder, which projected the chaotic situation of Rio de Janeiro," he said.
The Attorney General's Office (PGR) also pointed out the political activism of Marielle as a possible motive for the crime.
The agency's opinion states that witnesses were "emphatic" in pointing out that the councilwoman's political activism "began to harm the interests of the Brazão brothers regarding the exploitation of militia-controlled areas."
"The councilwoman did not hide her understanding that land regularization initiatives through the characterization of Areas of Special Social Interest (AEIS) would be suitable to meet the interests of the social segments most affected by the existing housing deficit in Rio de Janeiro. However, such instruments would have been distortedly employed by the Brazão brothers, only to enable the economic exploitation of territorial spaces that were often dominated by militiamen," the PGR says.