Brazilian judges have ruled to uphold former AC Milan and Brazil striker Robinho's rape conviction, stating that he must serve his nine-year prison sentence in Brazil. The decision was made by Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the country's top court for non-constitutional matters, which ruled that Italy's decision regarding the case was valid in Brazil.
In 2017, a Milan court found Robinho and five other Brazilians guilty of gang raping a woman in 2013 after plying her with alcohol in a discotheque. This conviction was later confirmed by an appeals court in 2020 and validated by Italy's Supreme Court in 2022. Despite living in Brazil, the 40-year-old Robinho, whose full name is Robson de Souza, has always denied the charges.
Since Brazil does not usually extradite its citizens, Italy requested last year that Robinho should serve his prison sentence in his home country. Following the court's decision, Robinho's attorney Jose Eduardo Alckmin stated that Robinho would surrender to authorities when officially notified about the decision.
The Brazilian court's ruling did not reconsider the rape conviction itself but focused solely on determining the validity of the sentence in Italy. However, in a recent interview broadcast on a local TV station, Robinho expressed hope that the court would review the merit of the Italian case, claiming, "I was unfairly convicted in Italy for something that did not occur."
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