A Brazilian politician has called for footballer Robinho to be jailed 'immediately' for his role in the alleged gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman at a Milan nightclub in 2013.
The 36-year-old former Manchester City and Real Madrid was convicted of rape in 2017, with a nine-year jail sentence handed down by an Italian court, but his appeal process with the Italian courts has been ongoing in the years since.
Robinho, who has repeatedly denied the charges, was suspended by his Brazilian side Santos just a week after signing for them as a result of the ongoing case.
The club said they want the player to 'concentrate exclusively on his court defence in Italy'.
Damares Alves, the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights in Brazil, has now said the footballer should be jailed immediately because the alleged crime 'deserves no consideration' despite appealing the conviction.
'Prison immediately, I have no more to say,' she told the media, as reported by Marca. 'There is still an appeal, but the leaking of the audios ... What more do you want? Prison. No rapist can be applauded.'
Alves went on to say that Robinho's remarks about the woman caused her nausea, and that he 'does not deserve any consideration'.
'The sensation of that caused me nausea, I wanted to vomit,' she said. 'It was fatal to read what I read from a player of his size,'
'That is a crime that does not deserve any consideration for the abuser, the rapist. We do not have to make concessions with this type of crime. He has to serve the established penalty, or there or here, immediately.'
The former AC Milan star has insisted that despite making 'contact' with his accuser, everything that happened at the Sio Cafe was consensual
A girl approached me, we started to have contact with her consent and mine too... then I went home,' he told Brazilian outlet UOL.
He also said that after leaving the club, his friends stayed with the accuser and had consensual sex with her.
