Dani Alves, during a game with the Mexican Pumas, in an archive photo. Hector Vivas (Getty Images)
Dani Alves will stand trial as a preventive prisoner over the alleged rape of a 23-year-old girl at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona in December 2022. For the third time since his imprisonment, the judges refused to release him provisionally. The Barcelona court relies on the prosecution’s high demand (nine years in prison for a crime of sexual assault with penetration) to conclude that there is still a risk of escape for the former FC Barcelona player.
The footballer has been in prison for more than ten months. On January 20, 2023, after a chaotic testimony in which he gave up to three different versions of what happened in the bathrooms of a private room in the room, the judge ordered him held without bail. Nothing he has done so far has helped him improve his situation. His former lawyer, Cristóbal Martell, tried to persuade the court to replace prison with other, less onerous measures that would ensure his stay in Spain. She also attempted to highlight inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony (which the prosecution denies) and to emphasize that the events did not occur as she reported them. It was in vain.
Alves’ recent decision to change lawyers has not improved his personal situation. The new lawyer, Inés Guardiola, requested her release, a request that was again rejected by both the girl’s lawyer and the prosecutor’s office. The lawyer argued that the athlete had already paid the compensation of 150,000 euros demanded by the public prosecutor for the physical and psychological damage suffered by the victim. This payment could involve the application of a “very qualified mitigation and remediation” and therefore the penalty could be less than two years, Guardiola argued.
But the court in Barcelona categorically rejects the reasoning. Firstly, since the prosecutor’s request for detention (nine years) is already known, a sentence that is “very far away” from the threshold that would, if necessary, allow for a suspension of execution. The judges also maintain that the fact that payment has been made does not require the application of a mitigating circumstance, since the sentencing court must decide whether this gesture is “the mere delivery of sums of money or an actual exercise to redress the damage” acts caused.” to the victim.” In the case of sexual crimes, the payment of financial compensation can also “have a different scope” than in the case of property crimes, for example.
In two decisions (first in February and then in June), the Barcelona court confirmed the provisional detention of Alves and concluded that the evidence collected during the investigation “not only does not falsify but rather confirms” the victim’s story. The girl reported that she was beaten and raped in the toilets of the private room. In his last statement, the former football player stated that the sexual relations were consensual and explained that if he lied to the judge the first time, he did so so that his wife would not find out about his infidelity.
Judicial sources believe it no longer makes sense to ask for Alves’ release again, especially since the investigation has been completed and a trial date remains to be set. The same sources indicate that it is possible that the oral hearing will take place early next year, as it is a case involving a prisoner (i.e. a priority case).