Statue of activist Marielle Franco installed in Rio de Janeiro

Relatives and supporters of activist and Rio de Janeiro councilor Marielle Franco, whose murder in 2018 remains unsolved, unveiled a statue in her memory on Wednesday, the day the human rights defender would have turned 43.

The work of Brazilian sculptor Edgar Duvivier, the life-size sculpted monument was installed in Buraco do Lume square, in downtown Rio, where Franco used to organise meetings and public events to report on his work in the Rio de Janeiro Chamber of Councillors. janeiro.

"In an extremely racist society, a statue of Marielle Franco is here to remind us of the world we want to build," said Monica Benicio, the councilwoman's partner at the time of her death.

Black, lesbian and born in a favela, Franco was shot to death along with her driver, Anderson Gomes, on March 14, 2018 when she was 38 years old, an episode that shocked the country and also generated outrage abroad.

A member of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL, left), she firmly defended the rights of young black people, women, and the LGBTI community, and was highly critical of police violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Almost a year after her death, in March 2019, investigators arrested two former police officers, Ronnie Lessa and Elcio de Queiroz, accused respectively of firing the shots and driving the car in which they chased her out of a meeting of work.

Both deny their involvement and remain in prison awaiting trial.