Brazilian justice on Wednesday banned the cremation of the body of the alleged leader of a militia suspected of orchestrating the murder of Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro activist and councilwoman shot dead in 2018.
Judge Maria Izabel Pena Pieranti rejected the request for cremation of the body of Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega, killed by police in the state of Bahia (northeast of Brazil) last Sunday, due to the lack of necessary documents, according to the court decision.
The magistrate said that “cremation would prevent the police” from requiring a more complete autopsy, noting that the suspect did not die of natural causes and that, according to his death certificate, he suffered “acute anemia” and “polytrauma” caused by ” blunt drilling instrument “.
The suspect’s mother and sisters asked for judicial authorization, essential for any cremation when the cause of death is not natural. Cremation was scheduled for today in Rio de Janeiro.
Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega, a former captain of an elite police unit in Rio de Janeiro, died during a gunfire with police officers in the municipality of Esplanada, where he was hiding.
Known as “Captain Adriano”, the militia chief, who has been on the run since 2019, was accused of leading the so-called “Crime Office”, an alleged group of elite killers suspected of being involved in the death of Marielle Franco in March 2018.
Two alleged material perpetrators of the crime were arrested: ex-police officers Élcio Queiroz and Ronnie Leça. To date, the moral perpetrators of the crime are unknown.
According to the local press, Nóbrega had told his lawyer that he feared he would be killed for “eliminating evidence”.
The Secretary of Public Security of Bahia said that Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega, 43, was located by the authorities on Sunday morning in a house located in a rural area of the municipality of Esplanada.
When the agents tried to execute the arrest warrant issued against him, the militia leader resisted and responded with bullets.
In the police operation, the authorities seized several weapons that were distributed throughout the house.
“The intention was to execute the arrest, but he preferred to react with shots,” said the secretary of Public Security of Bahia, Maurício Teles Barbosa, quoted in a statement.
Ex-captain of Bope, elite battalion of the military police of Rio de Janeiro, Nóbrega received in 2005 the Tiradentes medal, the highest decoration of that Brazilian state, in a distinction granted at the initiative of Flávio Bolsonaro, currently senator, and son of the President of the Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega’s mother and ex-wife were also employees of the office of that son of Bolsonaro, in the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro.
Marielle Franco, councilor and human rights activist, was murdered on the night of March 14, 2018, while driving in downtown Rio de Janeiro, after participating in a political act.
The driver of the car, Anderson Gomes, was also murdered.
Brazilian authorities suspect that behind this crime, which shocked Brazil and was condemned by international organizations, are militia groups, composed of ex-police and corrupt agents still active.
Investigations continue to take place almost two years later.
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