Robinho spent his first night in prison in Brazil after being arrested yesterday to serve the nine-year sentence for rape imposed in Italy. The former forward was arrested by the Federal Police in Santos, the city in the state of São Paulo where he resided, and taken to a police station to complete all routine procedures.
Around 1 a.m., he was taken to Penitentiary II Dr. José Augusto César Salgado in Tremembé, about 150 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. He will remain in a special cell for one to two weeks to adapt to incarceration.
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During this time, he will be isolated from the rest of the inmates, even during recreational moments when they are allowed to be outside. Once this stage is completed, he will be housed in a common cell with seven other individuals, according to local media reports.
The Tremembé prison is known as the “celebrity penitentiary” and houses individuals involved in cases of high social impact. Inmates include Alexandre Nardoni, perpetrator of a brutal infanticide case depicted in a Netflix documentary, and Roger Abdelmassih, a doctor sentenced to about 200 years in prison for raping over 30 women, among others.
The former Brazilian national team and Real Madrid forward, like all other inmates, will receive a kit including prison clothing, a cup, and a spoon. His hair will also be cut, and his photo taken to open his internal file.
The case for which Robinho was convicted
The Brazilian was convicted in Italy in 2017 for group rape of a young Albanian woman celebrating her birthday at a nightclub in Milan, an incident that occurred in 2013. Brazil prohibits the extradition of its citizens, but nine out of eleven judges from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) endorsed this week the validation of the sentence to be served in the country.
Robinho, 40, maintains his innocence and argues that his relationship with the young woman was consensual. However, according to the accusation, the former player and five compatriots made the victim drink “to the point of rendering her unconscious and unable to resist.”
