Google Must Share Data Related To Marielle Franco Murder Case

Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) Wednesday determined Google must provide Rio de Janeiro’s authorities with information that can help in the investigations of the murder of Marielle Franco, a Socialist human rights defender who was killed in March 2018.

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Previously, the U.S.-based company claimed that such a request is proportionate and illegal as its current rules do not admit sharing personal information.

“We restate our respect for the authorities’ research work. However, we do not accept the STJ decision as this is a request for generic and not individual data. Therefore, we do not rule out resorting to the Supreme Court,” Google replied.

In August 2018, Rio de Janeiro's Police and Prosecutor's Office asked the Justice Department for data of the people who had searched for information about Franco's activities through Google.

STJ Judge Rogerio Schietti said that Google information does not pose an unreasonable risk to the users’ privacy and intimacy and that it is necessary to take into account the particularities of this crime.

"This murder was not only committed because of Franco’s social and political activity in defense of human rights. Everything shows that it was also motivated because she was a woman from the periphery, black and lesbian," Schietti pointed out.

Franco was shot dead after participating in a political event on March 14, 2018. The investigations for her murder are still active and several former police officers have been arrested so far.

One of those involved in the crime of the Socialist councilor is Elcio Queiroz, who allegedly visited President Jair Bolsonaro’s house a few hours before the murder.