A judge prohibited the former footballer from leaving Brazil while the justice evaluates, at Italy's request, the nine-year prison sentence he was convicted of for rape.
A magistrate prohibited the former footballer Robinho from leaving Brazil while the justice evaluates, at Italy's request, the nine-year prison sentence he was convicted of for group rape of a young woman in Milan in 2013.
"Magistrate Francisco Falcão prohibited the athlete from leaving the country. He must surrender his passport within five days," the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), guardian of the uniform interpretation of federal laws, said in a statement.
Falcão, a judge of the STJ, who is analyzing the Italian request to execute the sentence, justified the measure based on "the seriousness of the crime, the international repercussion of the case, and the economic condition of the player, which could facilitate a potential escape from Brazil."
The magistrate stated that the defense of the former player, 39 years old, had already expressed its willingness to return the document "spontaneously."
The decision against the former striker of the 'Seleção' and Real Madrid, among other clubs, comes at a time when the STJ is analyzing the request to homologate the final conviction imposed on the former footballer in Italy in January 2022.
The Italian justice requested in February that its Brazilian counterpart enforce Robinho's sentence in Brazil due to the impossibility of extraditing him.
The Brazilian Constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens and Robson de Souza, better known as Robinho, is in the country.
But local laws and a bilateral treaty between Brazil and Italy make it possible to transfer the execution of the sentence from one nation to another, after an evaluation by the Brazilian justice system.
Against Robinho, who last played for Istanbul Basaksehir in Turkey, from which he left in August 2020, there is also an international arrest warrant.
Robinho was convicted of group sexual violence against a young Albanian woman who was celebrating her 23rd birthday at a well-known nightclub in Milan when he was a player for AC Milan.
Ricardo Falco, a friend of the former footballer, was also found guilty in the case. AFP