The pretrial detention of former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho, arrested with his brother in Paraguay for using false passports, was confirmed on Saturday March 7 by an Asuncion judge. The 2005 Ballon d'Or spent last night in detention with his brother Roberto. The two men were presented in the morning to a judge who decided late in the afternoon that they remained in prison.
"They committed a serious act which threatens the state", Justice Clara Ruiz Diaz justified herself. The brothers' lawyer Tarek Tuma called the judge's decision a"Irrational, arbitrary and light", and he asked for the magistrate to be recused.
Ronaldinho and his brother are accused of entering Paraguayan territory from Brazil on Wednesday with false passports. The falsified documents were detected on arrival at Asuncion airport, where Ronaldinho had come to promote a book.
Since the arrival of the former PSG player, Barcelona and AC Milan and his brother in Paraguay, the case has seen many twists and turns. They were heard for the first time on Thursday, but the prosecutor initially in charge of the file estimated that they had been "Deceived" and requested that the charges be dropped against the two Brazilians "With the condition that they admit to having committed the offense of which they are accused, that is to say the possession of false documents".
The two men again had to explain themselves to a judge on Friday. They left the magistrate’s office free after a seven-hour interrogation. Before being caught by the prosecution, which issued an arrest warrant requesting their pre-trial detention. Less than two hours after their hearing, the 2002 world champion and his brother ended up in a police van to be imprisoned.
Brazilian justice deprived Ronaldinho of a passport at the end of 2018, following his conviction of a fine of 2.5 million dollars (around 2.25 million euros), which he never paid, for having built a jetty without authorization at the edge of a lake in a protected area, according to Brazilian media.
