Minister Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Court (STF), voted on Friday (22) to release former athlete Robson de Souza, Robinho, who is arrested in Tremembé, in the interior of São Paulo.
Gilmar argued that the decision of the Supreme Court that allowed compliance with the penalty imposed by the Justice of Italy for collective rape to be overturned in Brazil.
The Supreme Court resumed on Friday the analysis of the appeal of the defense of Robinho. Ministers Luiz Fux, rapporteur of the case, and Alexandre de Moraes have already vote to keep the former athlete arrested.
Robinho has been arrested since March 2024 in a penitentiary in the city of Tremembé, in the interior of São Paulo. The foreign judgment was recognized by the Supreme Court (STJ). The former player, however, denies the accusations.
Robinho’s defense appeal is under analysis in the Virtual Plenary of the Supreme Court.
Gilmar voted to “settle the inapplicability of Art. 100 of the Migration Law [que permite a transferência ao Brasil da execução da pena imposta no exterior] To the specific case and, consequently, grant the order of habeas corpus, determining the cancellation of the approval decision issued by the STJ’s Special Court in the original proceedings (HDE 7.986/IT), with the consequent release of the patient, if for another reason he is not arrested. “
In 2024, Minister also showed a favorable vote for Robinho’s defense thesis during the analysis of another appeal. By 9 votes to 2, the STF kept the former athlete trapped at that time.
According to investigations, Robinho and five other friends committed sexual violence against an Albanian young woman in a nightclub in Italy in 2013. At the scene, according to the Italian court, the victim was drunk and, unconscious, taken to the establishment’s dressing room, where she was raped several times.
The former player was sentenced in 2017 to nine years in prison for collective rape. In 2022, the sentence was considered definitive, with no possibility of new resources. In Brazil, after the recognition of the sentence by the STJ, the defense of the former player filed two requests for habeas corpus.
