The Brazilian justice system determined that Robinho must serve the nine-year prison sentence handed down in Italy for rape in the country. Nine of eleven judges of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) endorsed approving the sentence, although this does not imply that the former soccer player will be immediately detained, since he can present more legal appeals, according to his lawyers.
The Brazilian was convicted in 2017 for gang raping a young Albanian woman who was celebrating her birthday in a Milan nightclub, in an event that occurred in 2013. Brazil prohibits the extradition of its citizens, so today’s decision could set a precedent in other similar cases.
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During the hearing, the lawyer of the former Real Madrid attacker, José Eduardo Alckmin, requested a new trial in Brazil, considering that it is “a right, an individual guarantee, of every Brazilian citizen.” On the contrary, the representative of the Prosecutor’s Office, Hindenburg Chateaubriand Pereira, defended the incarceration to prevent the “serious” crime that he committed from remaining “unpunished.”
Robinho, 40, a former soccer player for the Brazilian National Team and Real Madrid, broke his silence this week. In an interview with a television channel, he pointed out that the sentence against him was “unfair” and motivated by racism, in addition to pointing out that he has “all the evidence” to prove his innocence.
“I hope that in Brazil I can have the voice that I didn’t have outside,” said Robinho who, according to his version of what happened, had “consensual” sexual relations with the complainant. But according to the prosecution, the former player and five of her compatriots made the woman drink “to the point of leaving her unconscious and unable to resist.”
