See what Robinho and his defense say about rape conviction in Italy

Convicted in the third and final instance of the Italian justice for the crime of gang rape committed nine years ago in Milan, Robinho has not yet manifested himself after this Wednesday’s decision (19).

A leaf tries to contact its defense, but has not received a response until the publication of this text.

Before the trial began, Alexander Gutierres, one of Robinho’s defense lawyers in Italy, told journalists that the case was flawed, that the player was innocent and that he was “butchered by the media”.

In previous legal stages, the athlete’s lawyers maintained that there was no evidence that the relationship with the victim – an Albanian woman who is now 31 years old and lives in Italy – was not consensual.

In December 2020, Robinho was convicted in the second instance by the Italian Justice. On that occasion, in 65 pages, the defense presented the results of four technical consultations carried out after the lower court decision, in 2017.

One focused on carrying out a toxicological survey, with the intention of showing that it is not possible to prove that the victim was in a condition of “physical or psychological inferiority” at the time of the crime, as the Public Ministry maintained in the investigation.

Another questioned the accuracy of the wiretapping translations that were included in the lawsuit. Carried out with the authorization of the Italian Justice, they show Robinho and friends commenting on the night the case happened.

In one of the excerpts of the opinion, it is written that, by wiretapping, it is not possible to prove that there was sexual intercourse between Robinho and the victim, but “only” oral sex with consent.

In the third consultancy, the content of a HD (hard drive) of Robinho was presented, with images that supposedly show him with friends at the time when the crime would have occurred.

Finally, according to leaf found, the defense displayed a kind of dossier against the victim, with 42 images from their own social networks, to try to show that she had the habit of ingesting alcoholic beverages. Among the photos, scenes between friends, which do not necessarily show alcohol consumption.

When he spoke about the case in recent years, Robinho acknowledged that he had intimate contact with the woman, but claimed that this would have occurred with consent.

In October 2020, the case resurfaced when he, at the time convicted in the first instance, was announced as Santos’ new striker. In the face of enormous negative repercussions, however, the agreement was suspended.

One day after the suspension, in an interview with UOL, the striker spoke about the episode.

“I regret having betrayed my wife. This is my regret. Regarding the sentences that came out, out of context and to sell newspapers and magazines… Obviously, I have changed a lot in the seven years since then. This happened in 2013. , and I changed for the better. The question is, what was the mistake I made? What was the crime I committed? The mistake was not being faithful to my wife, I didn’t make any mistake of raping someone, of abusing someone girl or go out with her without her consent,” he said.

At the same time, in audios sent by the WhatsApp application to friends, he said he was persecuted by Rede Globo. In his view, in the same way as President Jair Bolsonaro.

“The good always wins, and the truth will come out. The guys there are people used by the devil, right? We know how TV Globo is a broadcaster of the devil. in peace. God will give the victory. May God’s purpose in my life be fulfilled. Put a goal on them, ‘we are together’. I’ll put a shirt on when I score: ‘Globo trash, Bolsonaro is right'”, said the player .

With this Wednesday’s sentence, which is final, Robinho is now found guilty. Now, a new phase of the case begins, for the decision on the fulfillment of the sentence of nine years in prison. The Brazilian Constitution prevents the extradition of its citizens to countries where the crimes have been committed.

However, Brazilian legislation provides in the Migration Law (13.445/17), articles 100 to 102, the transfer of execution of sentence for cases in which extradition is not possible due to nationality. In theory, the Italian authorities need to ask the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice to carry out the sentence in the country.