A high court in Brazil will move forward with Italy’s case against former footballer Robinho, who was sentenced in Europe to nine years in prison for rape.
Brazil’s superior court of justice set a date of August 2 to decide whether the Italian government must translate Robinho’s full case into Portuguese and then send it to Brazilian authorities for further analysis, as requested by the former player’s lawyer.
Italian authorities want 39-year-old Robinho to serve his sentence in Brazil, but the Brazilian court is yet to agree. Brazil does not extradite nationals.
Robinho was convicted in Italy in 2017 for his part in the group sexual assault in Milan that took place four years previously, when he was playing for Serie A team AC Milan. Italy’s top court upheld the Brazilian’s sentence in 2022, after which Italian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant.
Robinho lives in Santos, outside Sao Paulo. He relinquished his passport to Brazilian authorities in March.
His lawyers, who did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press, claim he had consensual sexual relations at a bar with a young woman, as five of his friends also did.
If the Brazilian court rejects Robinho’s request for a full translation from Italy, it will be able to rule on his future.
