Robinho arrested in Brazil: The former AC Milan player will serve nine years in jail

Robson de Souza (Robinho) will have to serve nine years in prison in Brazil for a very serious crime he committed in Italy in 2013.

The first conviction in Italy dates back to 2017 when the former striker was found guilty of participating in serious sexual assault with a group of men against a 23-year-old Albanian national, which took place in a nightclub in Milan. At the time of the events, Robinho was playing for AC Milan.

Despite the final conviction at all levels of Italian justice in 2022, the former striker has never served his sentence in Italy and has since returned to Brazil, a country that does not allow the extradition of Brazilian citizens to other countries.

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The Carioca constitution states that if convicted of a crime committed abroad, Brazilian citizens must be arrested and detained in Brazil: hence the request of the Italian government that the former Milan, Real Madrid, and Manchester City player serves the sentence in his country.

On March 20, the Brazilian Supreme Court of Justice accepted this request, with nine votes in favor and two against. Maria Thereza de Assis Moura, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, has authorized the Federal Court of Santos to arrest Robinho.

According to the Brazilian news agency, once the order was received from the Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Santos then issued the arrest warrant for Robinho, who was taken by the police from his luxurious home in Guarujá, in the state of São Paulo.

According to the latest news published by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Robinho was taken to the headquarters of the Federal Police in the city, where he will now undergo a custody hearing, a forensic examination and then will be sent to prison.

The former footballer has always reiterated his innocence and gave an interview to RecordTV's Domingo Espetacular program, in which he indicated that he owned sufficient evidence to prove it.

In the same interview, the former AC Milan player then accused the Italian justice system of having acted out of racism: "I played four years in Italy and I have seen enough of racist episodes. Unfortunately, this is still the case today. The same people who don't take any action to counter racism are the ones who condemned me."

He added: "If there had been a white Italian in my place, it would have been different. There's no doubt about it. With the amount of evidence I have, I wouldn't have been convicted."

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The footballer's lawyers, as pointed out by the newspaper GloboNews, had repeatedly requested that a new trial be held in Brazil. His lawyers also tried to overturn the latest decision by presenting a petition for 'habeas corpus' at the Supreme Federal Court, the highest level of Brazilian justice.

As reported on the official website of the Supreme Federal Court, the right of 'habeas corpus' in Brazil enshrines the safeguarding of individual freedom (especially of movement) against any abuse of power.

In this sense, the petition presented by Robinho's lawyers is aimed at keeping the Brazilian's liberty while waiting for the appeal process.

According to GloboNews, on March 21st, Luiz Fux, Minister of the Supreme Federal Court, denied that it is possible to make a decision on the merits of the Supreme Court.

The Brazilian newspaper then reported the words in which the Minister wanted to emphasize the legality of the transfer of convictions from one country to another. It read: "Due process of law, full defense, and adversarial are respected" in the country that issued the sentence.

In the meantime, while Robinho's lawyers will probably file appeals to challenge the sentence, Brazilian justice has been peremptory: whatever his future moves will be, Robinho will have to wait for the results in prison.

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