Former player Robinho’s defense appealed this Tuesday (2) to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) asking for the athlete’s arrest to be revoked.
The lawyers are asking the Supreme Court to authorize him to await the analysis of the appeals against the decision of the Superior Court of Justice that ordered the immediate execution of the nine-year sentence for the rape conviction in the Italian courts.
The lawyers question the decision of Minister Luiz Fux, who denied habeas corpus and authorized the beginning of the sentence, as determined by the STJ.
For the defense, as there is still an appeal against the STJ’s decision, it is not possible to order the former player’s arrest.
“By the same principle of the presumption of innocence, the execution of the sentence established in a foreign sentence cannot be determined if its execution in Brazil has not been definitively established.”
Lawyers say the arrest is illegal. “In order to respect due legal process with the execution of the sentence imposed by a foreign country, it is necessary to ensure full defense and due legal process with the final and unappealable decision of ratifying the foreign sentence.”
On Thursday (21), after the STJ’s decision and before the former player’s arrest, Robinho’s lawyers had already submitted a request to the STF to suspend the order. However, the request was denied by the rapporteur, Minister Luiz Fux.
The STJ’s decision that determined the ex-player’s sentence to be served in Brazil was taken by 9 votes to 2.
The Brazilian Constitution prevents the extradition of native Brazilians to serve sentences abroad. As Robinho is in Brazil, Italy requested compliance here.
The STJ did not retry the accusation against the former player, that is, it did not revisit the case, evaluating facts and evidence. He simply expressed whether or not Robinho could be arrested in Brazil.
The crime of group sexual violence occurred in 2013, when Robinho was one of the main players at Milan, a club in Milan, Italy.
