Robinho’s desperate attempt to avoid his immediate imprisonment

The lawyers of former Brazilian soccer player Robson de Souza ‘Robinho’ presented this Thursday a request for habeas corpus to the Supreme Court to avoid his immediate imprisonment, which was ordered on Wednesday by another court for him to serve in Brazil the sentence for the rape for which he was sentenced in Italy.

The request argues that the decision by Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice to approve the nine-year prison sentence handed down by Italian courts contradicts the South American country’s constitution, which prohibits the extradition of its citizens.

Robinho accepts the Brazilian Constitution

The Court, which is one step below the Supreme Court, decided on Wednesday by nine votes in favor and two against that Robinho serve his sentence immediately in a Brazilian prison and in a closed regime.

The habeas corpus that the defense now wants to use is a mechanism provided by the Brazilian constitution for anyone who feels threatened by a prison order that they consider illegal or the result of an abuse of power.

The defense arguments were rejected

In Wednesday’s session, the lawyer for the former footballer of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Milan and Santos, among others, pointed to the alleged violations of due process in Italy and said that the law of Brazil allowing the homologation of foreign sentences comes after the crime. made, arguments rejected by the investigating judge, Francisco Falcao.

The judge explained in his vote that it is not up to the Brazilian Justice to review the sentence already pronounced by the Italian court or to open a new trial, but only to check if all the requirements are met to accept Italy’s request for serving of the athlete. his sentence in Brazil.

Robinho, 40, was convicted for his part in the gang rape of an Albanian boy in a Milan nightclub in 2013, but did not serve his sentence because he returned to Brazil.