Asuncion (AFP)

The former world football star, the Brazilian Ronaldinho, imprisoned for more than a month in Paraguay for using a false passport, is now under house arrest in a hotel in Asuncion, announced on Tuesday the judge in charge of the file.

"It is a substitute for Ronaldinho and his brother and the continuation of their detention in a hotel," said judge Gustavo Amarilla at a press conference.

"I have the assurance from the management of the hotel that they will be under house arrest there at their expense," added the magistrate.

Lawyers for the former Brazilian champion offered a bail of 1.6 million dollars for the two brothers, which was accepted by the Paraguayan justice, said the judge.

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the decision was communicated digitally to the two accused in the presence of a representative of the prosecution and the defense.

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, known as Ronaldinho, and his brother Roberto were arrested on March 6 in Asuncion, accused of entering Paraguay in possession of false passports.

The two men had arrived two days earlier in the Paraguayan capital to promote a book and participate in various charitable operations.

They have since been in pre-trial detention in a police station, where the 2005 Ballon d'Or celebrated its 40th birthday on March 21.

Brazilian justice had deprived Ronaldinho of a passport at the end of 2018, after being fined $ 2.5 million (about 2.25 million euros), which he had not paid, for having built a jetty without authorization at the edge of a lake in a protected area.

He finally recovered it in 2019 after an agreement with the justice system, in return for a payment of 6 million reais (1.1 million euros).

When they arrived at Asuncion airport, the two men had shown their passports to the immigration police, who did not immediately find anything unusual. The police then searched the hotel where the two men were staying. Investigators discovered false Paraguayan passports made there in the Paraguayan capital.

Ronaldinho and his brother say the documents were given to them as gifts by the businesswoman and president of a humanitarian foundation who invited them to come to Paraguay, and who is now on the run.

Fifteen people, including entrepreneurs, police and civil servants, are in the crosshairs of the Paraguayan justice in the context of this case.

© 2020 AFP