The Military Police of Rio de Janeiro has decided to expel Ronnie Lessa, accused of the death of councilwoman Marielle Franco, after four years in prison, considering that the «execrable» act he committed «irreparably» damaged the image of the corps.
«The aforementioned behaviors committed involve contempt for the military police service and his colleagues, irreparably tarnishing the image of the Corporation. The reprehensible behavior adopted by the state military is not in line with the basic principles of this institution,» says the Police Lessa, whose dismissal became effective this Wednesday, had been under disciplinary proceedings since 2021, when he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for concealing evidence of the murder of Marielle and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Last year, he was sentenced to another thirteen years and six months for illegal arms trafficking.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Rio de Janeiro, Lessa, along with other defendants, would have thrown into the sea the weapons that would have been used for the two murders, which had been previously hidden in his apartment located in the west zone of the city and which were never found.
Already in 2019 the Military Police had opened another disciplinary report against him after being accused of the murders of Franco and Gomes, however, he was suspended in October 2021 pending the completion of the judicial process for these facts, explains the newspaper ‘O Globo’.
The murder of Marielle Franco in March 2018 shocked a part of Brazilian society. Afro-descendant, bisexual and a prominent activist for the defense of the rights of minorities, she was riddled with bullets when she was driving through the center of Rio de Janeiro after participating in an event with women.
For the moment only two people have been arrested, the aforementioned Ronnie Lessa, as the perpetrator of the shooting, and the former military policeman Elcio Queiroz, who according to some witnesses was seen the same night of the crime in a housing development looking for the house of Jair Bolsonaro, who was called to testify during the investigation.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
