Brazilian prosecutor's office against Robinho's possible release

Brazil's public prosecutor's office on Tuesday spoke out against the possible release of former footballer Robinho, who has been held in a Brazilian prison since 22nd March after the courts upheld a nine-year prison sentence imposed on him in Italy for gang rape.

"The (prosecutor's) statement is for the rejection of the petition," said Brazil's Attorney General, Paulo Gonet, in an opinion sent to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which is analysing an appeal in which the defence of the former Real Madrid, Manchester City and Milan striker is asking for his release.

Lawyers for the former 'Selecao' striker filed a habeas corpus requesting the release of their client until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling on whether the sentence handed down by the Italian courts can be served in Brazil.

The defence claims that Robinho, 40, still has the right to file some appeals to higher courts, so his conviction cannot be considered as final and definitive.

The Prosecutor, however, argued that the conviction handed down by the Italian courts is firm; that the former footballer was considered as "definitely and knowingly guilty", and that the merits of his conviction and guilt are no longer disputed in Brazil.

"The fact that the proceedings were not conducted in Brazil does not alter this conclusion," Gonet argued in his opinion.

The prosecutor added, furthermore, "that there is no constitutional guarantee that the Brazilian can respond in freedom until the final decision of the homologation of the foreign sentence".

Robinho was arrested on 21st March after the Superior Court of Justice approved the sentence handed down by the Italian judiciary and decided that he must serve the sentence imposed in Italy in a Brazilian prison.

The former footballer was convicted in Italy in 2017 for a gang rape of a young Albanian woman in a nightclub in Milan in 2013, but was at large because before the conclusion of the trial he returned to Brazil, where the Constitution prohibits the extradition of its nationals.

The Italian authorities asked the Brazilian judiciary to homologate the conviction and, consequently, to determine the imprisonment of the former footballer to serve the sentence in his country of origin.

Following the decision of the Superior Court of Justice to homologate the sentence, Robinho was taken to Tremembe prison, in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo.