SAO PAULO (AP) – Former soccer player Robinho turned himself in Thursday to begin serving a nine-year prison sentence in his native Brazil, more than a decade after he was first accused of raping a woman in Italy.
Robinho, 40, left his apartment in the seaside city of Santos on the outskirts of Sao Paulo in a black police car.
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Under Brazilian law, he will spend the first few hours of his detention in a hearing with a judge to discuss possible irregularities in the procedure that led to his arrest.
Robinho will then be transferred to prison, which authorities have not yet disclosed.
Robinho will soon serve a nine-year sentence for raping a woman in Italy more than a decade ago.
Earlier on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Louis Fax refused to issue a writ of habeas corpus that would have kept Robinho free pending the conclusion of his appeal. His lawyers are seeking a new trial for the former soccer player in Brazil on national sovereignty grounds.
Brazil’s High Court ruled Wednesday that Robinho was convicted of rape in Italy in 2017 and should serve his sentence in his home country.
Judges at Brazil’s High Court in the capital Brasilia voted 9-2 to justify the former Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan striker’s conviction.
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Robinho was sentenced to nine years in prison in Italy for his role in a gang sexual assault in 2013 while playing for AC Milan.
Brazil has not extradited its citizens, so Italy wants him to be imprisoned in his home country.
