PHOTOS: Ronaldinho finally a free man
Sports
By
Robert Abong'o
| Aug 25, 2020
Ronaldinho arriving at the hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice where he was released from the home prison he has been holding for 4 months in a hotel in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 24, 2020. [Sebastian Caceres/Paraguayan Supreme Court/Handout via REUTERS]
Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo de Assis Moreira alias ‘Ronaldinho’ is finally a free man following a four-month spell under house arrest in Paraguay.
The 40-year-old and his brother, also business manager Roberto Assis were arrested and held at Asunción Airport in March for trying to access Paraguay using fake passports.
Judge Gustavo Amarilla ruled Ronaldinho is free to travel after approving an agreement reached with state prosecutors through his defense.
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"He is free to travel to whatever country in the world he wants but he must inform us if he changes his permanent residence”, said judge Amarilla.
His brother Roberto is also a free man, however, now with a criminal record after he pleaded guilty to using a false document.
Prosecutors did not believe Ronaldinho was involved in the plan to create the fake passports but that his brother was fully aware.
Ronaldinho during the hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice where he could be released from the home prison he has been holding for 4 months in a hotel in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 24, 2020. [Sebastian Caceres/Paraguayan Supreme Court/Handout via REUTERS]
Back in March, Ronaldinho’s lawyer said the duo were not aware the passports were fake, and that they could cause no harm to the State of Paraguay.
"They confessed that they used these false passports. But there was no harm done to the Paraguayan state. Roberto and Ronaldinho did not know that the passports were irregular. And they cooperated fully with authorities," he told reporters. A Paraguayan police vehicle transfers Ronaldinho from the hotel where he has been under house arrest for four months in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 24, 2020. [REUTERS/Jorge Adorno]
Following being ruled a flight risk, Ronaldinho and his brother were detained in a Paraguayan jail, leaving room for investigations which under the State’s law, take six months.
He spent his 40th birthday behind bars.
Ronaldinho is seen on a balcony of the Paraguayan hotel where he has been under house arrest for four months in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 24, 2020. [REUTERS/Jorge Adorno]
In April, the former AC Milan and Barcelona star along with his brother were then moved from jail into house arrest after they paid $1.6 million in bail.
The Judge ruled the pair would be allowed to stay at the Palmaroga Hotel in Asuncion while they anticipated trial. They would also be allowed to receive visitors.
Ronaldinho is seen on a balcony of the Paraguayan hotel where he has been under house arrest for four months in Asuncion, Paraguay, August 24, 2020. [REUTERS/Jorge Adorno]