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Special units executed arrest warrants for 13 men on Tuesday related to their involvement in organized crime—five of this listed were suspected of aiding in the assassination.
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Both Nóbrega and Pereira are said to have ties to Brazil's current far-right president
<strong> President Jair Bolsonaro, </strong>through his oldest son senator-elect <strong>Flávio Bolsonaro</strong>, who has strongly denied any involvement. "I cannot be held accountable for the behavior of someone I do not know, whose actions have only been reported now by this organization," he wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/FlavioBolsonaro/status/1087712395475206147" target="_blank">statement shared on Twitter.</a> However, both Nóbrega and Pereira were given the State Assembly's highest honor in 2003 and 2004, respectively, under nomination from Flávio Bolsonaro.
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Last May, <a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/marielle-franco-rio-police-ramping-up-efforts-find-killers-brazil/" target="_blank">security minister <strong>Raul Jungmann</strong></a><strong>, </strong>confirmed reports that a councilman and a member of one of Rio's underground militias were prime suspects in the killings.
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"The Marielle Franco case is indeed close to an ending,"<em> <a href="https://blavity.com/witnesses-to-assassination-of-afro-brazilian-activist-marielle-franco-claim-ex-cop-is-responsible-for-her-killing" target="_blank">Blavity</a> </em>quotes Rio's Governor <strong>Wilson Witzel </strong>as saying. "I can't legally look at the documents, which are sealed. But the information that I have is that the [arrest] of the criminals involved could happen still in January."
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Despite, what appears like, a dedication to nailing the perpetrators on Witzel's part, the governor's motives have been brought into question, as noted in<em> The Intercept. </em>Last year <a href="https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/lupa/2018/10/08/witzel-marielle/" target="_blank">he was photographed</a> standing on stage with two candidates who had proudly broken a street sign honoring Franco in half.
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Franco, who dedicated her life to fighting for black people in the city's favelas and members of the LGBTQ community, will be honored by one of Rio's
<a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/iconic-samba-school-to-pay-tributeafro-brazilian-activist-marielle-franco-at-carnival-2019/" target="_blank">foremost Samba Schools at Brazil's carnival this year.</a>
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