Lawyer Marinete da Silva, 71 years old, mother of councilor Marielle Franco, murdered in March 2019, said this Friday, in an interview with Agência Brasil, that she was contrary to the determination of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, to institute a new investigation at the Federal Police to collaborate with investigations into the double murder, federalizing the case. “It doesn’t matter to the family, to me. The crime was in Rio de Janeiro. I think the Federal Police have to be together, as they have always been. Much more now with the [ministro Flávio] dino. But the solution has to come from Rio de Janeiro. It was there that the crime took place. The government has to give an answer to me, to the family, to society, to Marielle’s voters. I was against federalization and campaigned”. The Federalization mobilization did not have the support of more than 150,000 people and 200 civil society organizations. Investigations by the Civil Police and the State Public Prosecutor’s Office pointed to retired Rio de Janeiro Military Police sergeant Ronnie Lessa as one of the perpetrators of the shots, with the collaboration of former military police officer Élcio Queiroz. Since 2019, the two have been held in pre-trial detention and are responsible for triple-qualified double homicide (awkward motive, ambush and resource that made it difficult for the victim to defend themselves) and for the attempted murder of Fernanda Chaves, Marielle’s advisor, a survivor of the crime and who was also at the targeted vehicle. Marinete’s family awaits the popular jury to which Ronnie Lessa must submit, still without a set date. “These men have been in prison for almost 4 years. This jury needs to be done. They need to be condemned. They can’t kill anyone’s child. There has to be a punishment for that,” said the councilwoman’s mother. The crimes will complete five years next Tuesday (14) and the principals have not yet been named, nor the motivations for the two executions. “It is a big process, which brings many requirements and need to be reviewed. We are in the third team within the Public Ministry [do Rio de Janeiro]in the fifth delegate of the Civil Police [do Rio de Janeiro]. Five years is a long time. Half a decade!” Memory The lawyer recalled her daughter’s trajectory, from living in the Comunidade da Maré to fighting militiamen. “Marielle has always been inside the community knowing exactly what was going on there. The militia was not as big as we see it today. My daughter was an advisor who was always with Marcelo Freixo [ex-deputado e atual presidente da Embratur]who headed the CPI [das Milícias]. We had a concern because of the very close proximity it had, within this area of human rights”. She defends her daughter’s memory. “Since the catechism, for ten years, she was within the community. She was this woman who came in and out of Maré, and no one bothered her. On the contrary, she had respect. This social part, the community that Marielle had, came from a very early age, because she is a woman from the periphery. A woman who changes everything within Maré and goes on to her graduation, focused on social issues and public policies, taking a lot of people along as well. Her master’s degree was also on top of that. The opening she had after being elected came to change parliament. She already arrives as a fierce, combative woman”, said Marinete. Marinete da Silva blames the positioning of her daughters and granddaughters (Mariele and Anielle Franco, Minister of Racial Equality) for raising the family. “It’s a whole education that we bring. We are from a very large family of women. There are seven women and four men. It is a very present matriarchy”. With regard to the bill establishing March 14 as Marielle Franco’s National Day to Combat Political Violence based on Gender and Race, Marinete considers it to be an important milestone. “Because black women who arrive at that space clearly feel that it is not for them. But it was for Marielle and it can be for everyone. So, having security for these women and making public policy for these women who are coming to parliament is fundamental. Many say ‘this space is not yours and I don’t want you here’. But we need to have more women in politics.” Institute The family created the Marielle Franco Institute, to carry out actions to fight for justice, defend Marielle’s memory and promote a more just and egalitarian society. “The institute has had several actions, since the pandemic, internal, inside Rio de Janeiro and outside Rio. Ani [Anielle] made 70 trips last year, as executive director of the institute until she took over the Ministry [da Igualdade Racial]. So, men and women are committing themselves to the guidelines that Marielle brought. And in the 27 states there are women identifying themselves with this agenda”, said Marinete. Legacy Despite the pain she says she feels, the councilor’s mother understands that Marielle Franco inspires and empowers other women. “Marielle will always be there! Marielle transcends today, both in Brazil and in the world. She is a woman who has become a reference, a symbol of resistance. Marielle is not physically present, but she has totally changed the structure of this country. My daughter’s story brings a before and an after. She is an icon. Today, more and more women feel free to say what they want. They can be wherever they want. My daughter had that in her body”. Future Lawyer Marinete da Silva said that “you need to trust in a better future and rely on the structure that is being set up now,[com] the councils, the return of normality in this country”. “Because nothing is built without women and with this cycle of a lot of violence. Anything! You have to change that and start there at the base, at school, for both men and women. When we change the structure, we will be able to live well in the future”, she says. Human rights Marinete participated this Friday in the 67th Ordinary Meeting of the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), in Brasília, invited by the executive of the Feminist Levant against Femicide, Cleide Lemos, on the understanding that the councilwoman was killed by gender violence in the policy. “This facet of public and political femicide is not yet in the femicide law, but it needs to be included. We need to see political violence as a form of femicide. Today, basically, the law only deals with cases of femicide linked to domestic and family violence or hate crimes. And not letting women be in the public space is also a form of hatred. So, we need to move forward in this field”, argues the executive.
Agência Brasil
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