It has been a year since 41-year-old Robinho was imprisoned, having been sentenced to nine years for gang-raping an Albanian woman in Italy in 2013 at a nightclub in Milan, something he has always denied, but whose punishment he has been unable to avoid.
His lawyers are still working on appealing the sentence, with constant lawsuits and appeals, which have yet to materialize, considering that the Brazilian justice system does not match the Italian one and that it should be the local legislation that prevails. Robinho is incarcerated in the famous Tremembe penitentiary in the interior of Sao Paulo, where famous criminals or other famous personalities who are in danger in other facilities because of their social repercussions are usually held
Known as ‘the prison of the famous’, it is home to politicians such as Luiz Estevao and celebrities such as Antonio Marcos Pimienta das Neves. There are also famous murderers such as Cristian Cravinhos or Alexandre Nardoni.
While he is rushing through the technical route, the former Brazilian player, formerly of Santos, Madrid, City and Milan, is focusing on achieving a semi-open regime in his sentence through good prison behavior that will allow him to enjoy a parole that he does not yet have. Brazilian media report that his behavior is exemplary, and his relationship with the other inmates is perfect.
He keeps his head down and moves forward calmly, he is an exemplary prisoner and has not had problems with other inmates, he keeps himself busy
When he plays football, he does so with boots borrowed from the other inmates, who are delighted to see him play in the yard. In his first match, on a dirt pitch, and with the guards as the crowd, he received a kick on the third dribble that left him on the ground. “They’ve already baptised him,” was the cry from the other inmates
He participates in sports activities while sunbathing, repairs televisions and radios thanks to a 600-hour electronics course, is enrolled in the reading club, tends the vegetable garden, and has completed the 10 modules of the Education for Work and Citizenship Program, in search of a reduced sentence or at least a semi-open regime: for every 12 hours of work he reduces his sentence by one day.
The former footballer is in an 8-square-metre cell with another inmate, a 22-year-old who is in prison for inducing someone to commit suicide or self-harm.
He can only receive visits from his first-degree relatives, that is, parents, children and spouse. He is usually visited once a month by Robinho Jr, 17, who was recently signed by Santos. And what can he receive in prison from his relatives? Desserts, meat, vegetables, soft drinks, water, salads, also some clothes (flip-flops, shorts, sweaters), games such as chess or checkers, writing materials and magazines or books, not pornographic.
“He kept his head down and moved on quietly, he is an exemplary prisoner and has not had any problems with other prisoners, he keeps himself busy,” says Mario Rosso, his lawyer. The former footballer spent the first ten days in an isolation cell, until he was transferred to a common cell.
The player claims that on that night he had a brief relationship with the victim and wanted to make it clear that the relationship was consensual and that in the police tests they failed to detect his DNA (he would have used a condom).
“I never denied it. It was consensual. I never denied it. I could have denied it, because my DNA is not there. But I’m not a liar. We had a superficial and quick relationship. We exchanged kisses, after that I went home. There were other people in the place. When I saw that she wanted to continue with other guys, I went home…. I never denied it,” explained the former Santos player, who re-signed for the fourth time in 2020, but had his contract rescinded under popular pressure.
In any case, the sentence is now irreversible. The Court of Cassation in Rome, the highest judicial authority in Italy, ratified in 2020 the nine-year sentence against Robinho and his friend Ricardo Falco for “group sexual violence”. There were four other Brazilians involved, but they left Italy quickly and were not notified. One of them, Rudney Gomes, who was 46 years old and was Robinho’s bodyguard, was found dead this week in a possible suicide.
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