By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Attempts by Brazil’s soccer star Neymar, to defend himself against rape allegations, may be backfiring. The Paris Saint-Germain player tried to defend himself by releasing a seven-minute Instagram video with messages and pictures of his accuser. But in doing so, say some prosecutors, Neymar committed a crime, punishable by one to five years in jail.
A Brazilian law sanctioned in September of 2018 criminalizes the act of offering, exchanging, making available, transmitting, distributing, publishing or divulging, by photography, video or other audiovisual means, sex scenes, nudity or pornography without the consent of all those depicted.
On Saturday, after being accused of rape by a 26-year-old Brazilian who claims she was flown to Paris by the soccer star and attacked there, Neymar took to his social media to release his side of the story.
“From now on I will expose everything, expose all the conversation I had with the girl, all our moments, which is intimate, but it is necessary to open, it is necessary to expose to prove that nothing really happened …” said Neymar on video addressing his millions of fans through his social media.
Hours after the disclosure of the intimate photographs and conversations, Instagram decided to take down the content. But by that time, say legal experts, the crime had already been committed.
“When intimate content is divulged on the internet, women are already immediately found guilty only because they exercise their sexuality, and with the reach of the message and the complicity of friends and strangers this aggression is infinitely multiplied, which makes this crime even more serious,” notes Jacira Melo, executive director of the NGO Institute Patrícia Galvāo, in a statement to The Rio Times. The institute is one of the leading advocates of women’s rights in Brazil.
A survey by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security pointed out that the cases of violence against women practiced via the internet increased from 1.2 percent in 2017 to 8.2 percent this year.
Neymar Sr., the soccer star’s father, defended his son’s actions by stating that he needed to defend himself quickly. According to Neymar Sr., it is preferable to be charged with a virtual crime than rape.
“We hid the image of the girl, the name; we did what was possible. But it was a defense. We did not commit a crime. We did not have a choice,” said Neymar Sr. during a TV interview on BandTV on Monday.
“I prefer Neymar to be charged with an internet crime than rape. It was a defense, and he needed to defend himself quickly. Better be accurate and show what really happened,” he added.
Many legal experts, however, say that Brazil’s Penal Code does not make a distinction between those trying to defend themselves, and those promoting what is commonly known as “revenge porn”.
They note that Neymar’s arguments–that he was only trying to defend himself and that there was no malice involved in releasing the photos–are not adequate justifications.
“The law is clear. The defined crime does not require any specific intent. If he exposed the images on the networks as a form of defense for other accusations, this is legally irrelevant,” law professor Maira Zapater was quoted as saying by daily Huffington Post Brasil.
But while there are some who believe that a felony was committed, others agree with Neymar Sr., stating that they believe the soccer star did nothing illegal.
Fundação Getulio Vargas’ (FGV) digital law professor Luiz Augusto D’Urso told Jovem Pan radio that there is “clearly no malice” by Neymar in divulging the intimate photos.
“The objective of the player was to defend himself: publishing the entire conversation he kept with the woman who accuses him. Without malice and because the photos are blurred, the possible occurrence of a crime of disclosure of third-party nude photos is removed,” added the professor.
On Monday, June 3rd, Neymar was served with a summons requiring him to testify at Rio de Janeiro’s Computer Crime Repression Office (DRCI). Authorities want the player to answer questions about the disclosure of conversations and intimate images he put on his social media.
Currently in Brazil to train for and participate in the Copa America, Neymar’s testimony is scheduled for next week at the specialized police headquarters.
But whatever the outcome of this internet investigation, many already think that the image of Brazil’s golden boy has been tarnished.
“We don’t know if he is the victim of some sort of extortion attempt. This has to be investigated. What we do know is that to release intimate conversations and photos, of a person without his/her authorization is to incur some problems, at the very least ethical ones. Ethically, the release of photos/conversation speaks against the person, in this case, Neymar,” concluded psychologist Vera Iaconelli during a radio interview on Tuesday.