Guido Nejamkis
03/09/2020 - 19:43
- Clarín.com
- sports
Murderers, drug dealers, corrupt politicians and soccer leaders jailed for alleged money laundering are the new partners in an Asunción prison of former soccer player Ronaldinho Gaúcho, arrested in Paraguay for entering that country with a false passport.
The former crack of Barcelona and Milan - who campaigned in Brazil for Jair Bolsonaro - is assisted in Asunción by his defense lawyer and the consulate of Brazil . In addition, this Monday, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Sergio Moro, contacted Paraguayan authorities to be interested in the case.
Sources consulted by Clarín in Asunción said that Justice could decide shortly the release of the former soccer player or, at least, grant him the possibility of carrying out house arrest while the process is being instructed.
Ronaldinho, in prison.
The Specialized Association of the National Police of Asunción, a battalion located in the Tacumbú neighborhood, a lower middle class area on the periphery of the Paraguayan capital, is the place of confinement of Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira, in a Case that Paraguay is in suspense and is covered by circumstances not yet explained.
Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira were arrested Friday night at a hotel in the Paraguayan capital, accused of having entered the country with forged passports . As they related, the documents had been given to them by a woman who had invited them for an event and since then has been a fugitive .
The detention unit is very close to the largest prison in Paraguay, the Tacumbú Prison, and was also a torture center during the regime of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), which used its facilities to bury the bodies of political detainees killed by the regime
The entrance of the Specialized Association of the National Police of Asunción, the battalion where Ronaldiho and his brother are detained. Photo: AFP
Today, in addition to narcos and murderers, the improvised battalion as a prison houses police under arrest and kidnappers.
Ronaldinho was housed in an old administrative structure now destined for "special prisoners" , among which are the official deputy Miguel Cuevas, accused of illicit enrichment, and the sports leader Ramón González Daher, who faces processes for money laundering and usury.
In that old structure, Ronaldinho and his brother occupy a private room with two beds, a TV and a fan, but they must share the bathroom . The food they eat is brought by their lawyers from outside the prison.
Another “illustrious” prisoner in the pavilion is Alcides Oviedo, founder of the so-called Paraguayan People's Army (EPP), the Paraguayan version of the Colombian FARC , as well as prominent members of that group qualified as a terrorist.
According to the director of the detention unit that houses Ronaldinho and his brother, the former attacker is in a good mood and those responsible for the prison trying to make his stay "bearable."
The arrest of the best player in the world in 2004 and 2005 revealed a complicated plot, in which prosecutors in Paraguay investigate several people who participated in the organization of the visit of the former crack to the country for falsification of documents and money laundering.
The investigations point to a connection between Ronaldinho Gaúcho and his brother with an organization dedicated to money laundering in which Brazilian and Paraguayan businessmen would be involved. According to his defense, detention is illegal.
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According to accusations of a Brazilian businessman with business in Paraguay, Dalia López, who is a fugitive from Justice, was responsible for the invitation and for giving false passports to Ronaldinho and his brother. López's defense however assured that the passports were requested by them to do business in the country .
Ronaldinho, since leaving football in 2018, has had problems with Brazilian justice due to a process for fraud in financial activities and for building a pier in an environmental protection area in his home state, Rio Grande do Sul.