Overview
- Robinho’s lawyers refiled a habeas corpus on June 1 asking the Supreme Federal Court to strip the heinous-crime qualification that the Superior Court of Justice attached when it homologated his nine-year Italian sentence.
- The petition is now with STF Minister Luiz Fux and the Prosecutor General’s Office has formally opposed the request, so the timing of any decision is uncertain because there is no deadline for the relator to rule.
- Defense lawyers argue the STJ unlawfully aggravated the foreign judgment by importing Brazil’s classification instead of enforcing the Italian sentence exactly as imposed, citing the principle of fidelity to the foreign title.
- Under Brazilian law the heinous label bars temporary releases and typically requires roughly 70% of the term to be served before progression, while common crimes can allow progression after a much smaller fraction.
- If the STF removes the qualification, Robinho—who has been imprisoned since March 2024 and has served about two years and two months—could become eligible for earlier progression to the semi-open regime, changing the immediate conditions of his incarceration.