The Brazilian footballer Dani Alves has been sentenced to four years and six months in prison for the rape he committed at the Sutton nightclub on the night of December 30, 2022.. The judge has considered the facts proven and has also imposed 5 years of supervised release, removal and incommunicado detention of the victim for 9 years and 6 months, as well as compensation of 150,000 euros and payment of costs.
During yesterday morning it became known that Alves had been cited by the court of section 21 of the Audiencia de Barcelona, although the exact reason is not specified. It could be a resolution on the request for provisional release until the sentence was known or, on the contrary, it could be because the verdict on the case had already been decided. Finally, the latter was the reason, coinciding with the deadlines that many experts in judicial matters anticipated.
This was the trial
Between February 5 and 7, when Alves had already been in Brians 2 prison for more than a year, the trial was held in which he appeared as a defendant. In the first of the three sessions, the complainant and five witnesses testified: two of them the victim’s companions and three workers from the Sutton nightclub. The statement of the attacked young woman was behind closed doors and at all times there was a screen that separated her from Alves.
The most anticipated appearance of the second date was that of Joana Sanz, the footballer’s wife. The expectation was at its highest, since his attitude towards Alves had changed over time and the possibility of him testifying against him had even slipped. However, in the end it was not like that and she joined the defense version indicating that her husband came home very drunk.
On the last day, the images obtained by the local cameras were shown, in addition to the expert evidence of the case. The last to give his version was Alves, who prevented his family from witnessing the trial from the guest gallery. He alleged that the sexual relations were consensual and that they were enjoying themselves and that’s it, nothing more.
Four requests for provisional release
Before the trial was scheduled for sentencing, Alves’s lawyer, Ins Guardiola, filed a new request for her client to be granted provisional release at the expense of the trial. On this occasion, due to the haste with which the sentence was made official, no response was necessary.
It was the fourth time that Alves requested this release measure despite having received three no’s in response. The argument of both the Prosecutor’s Office and the judge was the obvious risk of flight caused by the soccer player’s economic strength and the nonexistence of an extradition treaty with Brazil. In fact, a few days ago a fellow prisoner in his cell confessed that if they had given him the provisional one, he would take it and leave for Brazil.
What the parties ask for
The trial against Dani Alves is one of the most publicized for sexual violence since the approval of the well-known law of Only s is s. In application of the new legislation, the second most successful footballer in history faced a maximum sentence of 12 years of prison, in addition to significant compensation. That same punishment was the one requested by the accusation.
For its part, the Prosecutor’s Office rejected the request for the maximum sentence and opted for an intermediate one consisting of nine years in prison. Away from both options, the defense exercised by Ins Guardiola requested an acquittal prior to seeking a reduced sentence justified by Alves’ high alcohol consumption on the night of the events.
During the last months before the trial, the three parties involved in the case worked on the possibility of reaching an agreement that would avoid seeing Alves sitting in the dock. All the options for this pact to come to fruition depended on the footballer admitting his guilt, something that has never occurred. Ester García, the victim’s lawyer, cont At the end of the first session of the trial, the negotiations were not concluded because there were discrepancies with the years in prison.
