Robinho’s friend is fined for attempting to disrupt the process – 03/05/2024 – Sports

Minister Francisco Falcão, of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), denied a request made by a friend of Robinho to postpone the trial session of the Italian government’s request for the former football player to serve a sentence in Brazil. The trial is scheduled for the 20th at the Special Court of the STJ.

Convicted of gang rape, the former player received a nine-year prison sentence from the Italian courts, but is free in Brazil, whose legislation prevents the extradition of native Brazilians.

According to the STJ, the request for postponement was made by Ricardo Falco, who was also sentenced by the Italian Court to the same sentence, but who has requested that the sentence be approved at another stage.

Robinho was initially convicted in 2017, appealed and had his attempts exhausted in 2022, with a final judgment.

In addition to denying the postponement, the minister sentenced the former player’s friend to pay a fine of one minimum wage for attempting to disrupt the progress of the proceedings.

Falco’s defense claims that postponing the session would be necessary so that the two requests for approval of the Italian sentence could be judged simultaneously. The argument is that separate trials can lead to defense restrictions and contradictory decisions.

According to the STJ, different approval procedures were introduced to ensure the examination of specific situations for each person, such as dual nationality and the existence of residence or ties with Brazil.

“There is no risk of contradictory decisions, as both cases will be analyzed by the Special Court. Any difference in judgment, if it occurs, will only arise from the individual situation of the defendants”, stated Falcão.

The minister said that the parties cannot harm the progress of different processes, without concrete reasons for doing so.

Ricardo Falco’s case awaits a statement from the Italian government and may still have statements from the defense and the Public Ministry. Robinho’s is ready for analysis.

Falcão denied the risk of curtailing the defense of the former player’s friend’s case. “Evidently, he will be able to exercise ample defense in his procedure without the law authorizing him to obstruct the processing of another procedure.”