The 23-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by Dani Alves at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona expressed two major fears after the sexual assault: that her name would come to light and that no one would believe her, given the public relevance of the character. Reality has confirmed only the first of these fears: her full name and image were spread on social networks in an attempt by the footballer's entourage (including her mother) to discredit her. The second, however, has faded: from the beginning, the young woman convinced the Mossos d'Esquadra investigators, but also the judge and the public prosecutor in the case, that she was telling the truth. His complaint has not only landed Alves in the dock (if there is no last-minute agreement, the trial will begin this Monday), but also resulted in the footballer having to wait in prison for sentencing.
“I won't report it because… who will believe me?” the girl said spontaneously and in tears to the nightclub manager and an access control officer who saw her crying in the hallway, next to her cousin and a friend, ready to to leave the club. It was after 4:00 p.m. on December 31, 2022, and at that very moment Alves walked past him and left Sutton, without a greeting or a gesture, surrounded by the room's security personnel. The young woman had not given the soccer player's name at the time, which would have forced her to hold him until the police arrived, according to sexual assault protocol.
The alleged sexual assault had occurred minutes earlier in the suite, a key-entry room consisting of a sofa, television and sink that can only be used by customers who reserve table number six in the VIP area. Busy that evening was Dani Alves, who went to Sutton (a venue where he had been a regular since 2008) accompanied by a Brazilian friend. The former Barça footballer saw three girls on the pitch and asked a waiter to encourage them to come to his table to buy them a drink. The group danced, Alves approached the girl with sexual intentions and motioned for her to enter the suite. There are no pictures of what happened in the bathroom, but there are two versions, although in reality there are six: one by the young woman (who has claimed from the beginning that she was raped) and five by Alves, the Sex is a consensual act.
The trial of Dani Alves, as in many sexual assault cases where there is no conclusive physical evidence, only hints, is a question of credibility. And here the victim (who is waiting to hear what the verdict says) has clearly prevailed, despite his initial fear, which he shares with many other victims, of not being believed.
Vicente L. is the access controller who let the victim and her two companions through the door of Sutton after 2 p.m. and also the one who found her crying two hours later. “What, lovesick? I don't know why you hang out with these people when you already know what they're like.” But that wasn't it. The girl had told her cousin that Alves had “hurt her a lot” in the bathroom and had ejaculated inside her without her consent. When he saw the scene, Robert Massanet, the director of Sutton, suspected something was wrong. The victim told her she wanted to leave, but everyone took her to an office so she could calm down and explain. It wasn't easy for him to say what had happened. The person in charge of the room, Rafael Lledó, asked him if he wanted to get in touch. She said no: “I won't report it because who will believe me?” However, Lledó activated the protocol and called the Mossos.
One of the police officers who arrived in Sutton accidentally activated the camera he had with him while interviewing the girl. What he said there was basically what he repeated in court: He said he voluntarily went to the bathroom (where they stayed for a total of 16 minutes), but then wanted to leave and then Alves closed the latch. According to her version, the former football player tried to force her to perform fellatio, he beat her, asked her to tell him: “I'm your little whore”, and after turning her around in the tiny space of the sink, he penetrated her Before the patrol, the young woman was desperate and repeated to the officers that she had no intention of reporting it, that no one would believe her, among other things because the surveillance cameras would show that she entered the toilet voluntarily. However, this fact did not affect his credibility with regard to what happened next.
The young woman was transferred to the hospital's clinic, where she was examined and testified in more detail on January 3 before the Mossos, who not only listened to her but also assessed her “emotional state.” He arrived late at the police station because news of the sexual assault attributed to Alves surfaced and he suffered a panic attack. In that statement, he showed “feelings of helplessness, incomprehension, anger and paranoia” at the “lies on social media” and true “horror” at the possibility of his name coming to light. He once again expressed his doubts about filing the complaint with the same sentence: “Nobody will believe me.”
January 20, 2023 was the crucial day in the Alves case. On that day, the Brazilian player was arrested and the victim and attacker were brought before investigating judge Anna Marín. From this initial battle over history, the victim emerged victorious, at least in the eyes of the prosecutor and the judge. His testimony was “clear, definite, forceful, credible, coherent and persistent,” said the judge, who, on the contrary, highlighted the “three or four versions” that Alves had presented as evidence presented to him. At first she said they just talked and danced, but nothing sexual happened between them and he didn't invite her into the suite. When he saw that the pictures contradicted this and that traces of semen were found in the sink, he went on to say that the girl entered the bathroom and stayed by his side while he relieved himself. But when they told him that semen had been found on the victim, he changed his story again, claiming that she had “lunged” at him and performed fellatio on him.
“Obvious contradictions”
Given Alves' “obvious contradictions” and the danger of his escape, the judge sent him to a makeshift prison that same day, a situation that his defense (he changed lawyers three times) could not reverse. Since April, when he voluntarily agreed to obtain temporary freedom, Alves has claimed that there was penetration, but that it was consensual (he did not say it before, he explained, so that his wife, the model Joana Sanz, would not find out about it ). the infidelity). . In his most recent statement of defense, submitted a few weeks ago, he told the court that if he was not believed, at least the mitigating circumstance of drunkenness would be applied, since he had been drinking that night and did not know what he was doing. The public prosecutor's office is demanding nine years in prison for Alves (a request that the victim increases to twelve) and compensation of 150,000 euros.
The victim initially waived “any financial compensation,” as the judge stated in the arrest warrant, because she wanted justice. He later changed his mind (which he has the right to do) because at that time he was not aware of the consequences the criminal proceedings would have on him, such as the psychological consequences or the fact that he would continue to be affected by being on sick leave . The leaking of her personal information was the straw that broke the camel's back. And that the judge had already indicated in the arrest warrant of more than a year ago that it was “necessary to protect the identity of the victim” and that anyone who did not do so was warned of criminal liability.
A few weeks ago, Alves' entourage published a video montage that attempted to undermine the victim's credibility by showing her in a party context with friends. One of the people who posted this video was Alves' mother. The Investigative Court No. 21 of Barcelona has opened proceedings in this matter. The former Barça player has also denounced being the victim of a parallel trial despite publicly exposing himself. In June, she offered an interview to La Vanguardia in which she questioned the victim (“what happened there and what didn't, only she and I know”) and did not ask for forgiveness, but rather offered it to her: “I forgive her . “I still don’t know why she did all this, but I forgive her.”
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