Councilwoman Marielle Franco, murdered in 2018, won a statue in her honor, in downtown Rio de Janeiro, in the place where she used to meet with her constituents to give an account of her mandate. The inauguration was this Wednesday (27), the anniversary of the parliamentarian, who would be turning 43 years old.
Several politicians, admirers and voters of Marielle, in addition to her family, attended. Praça Mário Lago, popularly known as Buraco do Lume, was packed. Everyone wanted to take a picture next to the statue, built in bronze, life-size, measuring 1.75 meters, showing Marielle with her left fist raised, sculpted by the plastic artist Edgar Duvivier.
“It is a day of joy. It’s the day my daughter came into the world. Marielle was a party girl, she saw the other side a lot. This place is a milestone in her life. Every Friday she was here, on top of a crate, giving an account of her mandate. The story isn’t over yet, because we still don’t have the mastermind [do assassinato]. But we will get to them”, said Marinete Silva, Marielle’s mother.
The murder of the parliamentarian, an ambush on the night of March 14, 2018, when she was going home after a political activity, was remembered by her sister, Anielle Franco, who highlighted the family’s fight for justice.
“Today is a moment of celebration, which strengthens the tireless struggle that we have been living in these almost five years. Marielle’s memory is a little bit closer to us and we hope to have better days. It was a big step for us to have achieved this release [para colocação da estátua]bring her here, with a clenched fist, but with a smile on her face,” said Anielle.
investigations
After four and a half years of investigations, the police arrested only the two alleged executioners of the congresswoman, the retired Military Police sergeant Ronnie Lessa and the former PM Élcio de Queiroz, held in a federal prison, awaiting the trial for the crime. However, so far, it has not appeared in the investigations whether there was a mastermind of the murder. Marielle was an advisor to the then state deputy Marcelo Freixo, at the CPI das Milícias, at the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), in 2008. The final report called for the indictment of 225 politicians, police, penitentiary agents, firefighters and civilians, taking several people to jail.
