By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo
**Two ex-police officers in Brazil have been given lengthy jail sentences for their involvement in the killing in 2005 of 29 people on Rio’s outskirts.**The two men were sentenced to around 500 years, but the term is largely symbolic as under Brazilian law no-one can serve more than 30 years in prison.
Passing sentence, the judge said the crimes had shocked not only local people but Brazilian society.
Defence lawyers say they will contest the sentences, as the trial was unfair.
It was in March 2005 that 29 people, including women and children, died in two poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro in what became known as the Baixada massacre.
The exact reasons behind the killings were never fully explained, but one possible motive was anger among police officers over the arrest of some of their colleagues accused of involvement in two earlier murders.
Judge Elizabeth Louro said the attacks caused panic and despair because they were carried out by those whose job should have been to guarantee order and protect human life.
Prosecutors say a group of police officers opened fire on pedestrians, customers in a bar and a crowd in a public square.
Two former officers, Julio Cesar de Paula and Marcos Siqueira Costa, were given terms of 480 and 543 years in prison respectively.
But under Brazilian law no-one can serve more than 30 years, and penalties are often reduced to take account of factors such as whether they involve a first offence.
Their lawyers said they intended to appeal as the evidence was improperly presented.
For many in Brazil the sentences will be regarded with scepticism; it is one of the most commonly heard complaints here that those accused of major crimes rarely actually have to face a severe punishment, especially if they have access to influence or money.
Two other police officers have already been given lengthy sentences in the same case, while another was killed on his way to make a statement at a local police station.