Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, sentenced at first instance in February for rape to four and a half years in prison, was released on Monday March 25 from the Spanish prison where he had been detained for more than a year, after having paid the payment of ‘a deposit of one million euros.
It took five days for the ex-star of FC Barcelona, Juventus and again Paris Saint-Germain to raise this sum, since the principle of this release on bail pending his appeal trial had was decided by the court last Wednesday.
The player crossed on foot, shortly before 4:30 p.m., the gate of Brians 2 prison in San Esteban Sasroviras, 40 kilometers northwest of Barcelona (northeast of Spain). He was escorted at a distance by police officers, without saying a word or glancing at the numerous journalists present, noted two journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP). He then got into a car and left the prison parking lot accompanied by his lawyer Inés Guardiola.
The Barcelona court accepted his release pending his appeal trial upon payment of a bail of one million euros, as well as the withdrawal of his two Spanish and Brazilian passports and the ban on leave Spain. He is also prohibited from approaching within one kilometer of the victim’s home or place of work and from coming into contact with her.
Check in every Friday
The player will have to report to the Barcelona court every Friday, specifies the legal document consulted by AFP, which certifies that the deposit was indeed posted Monday morning. Insistent rumors had suggested that the father of another Brazilian football star, his former teammate at FC Barcelona Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, would have helped him pay the bail.
But the father of his teammate, who admitted in January to having paid 150,000 euros to help the ex-lateral pay his legal fees, assured Thursday that, since Alves’ conviction, the situation was ” different “.
Dani Alves’ financial situation has deteriorated considerably since his arrest, notably with the suspension of his contract with the Mexican club Pumas and the cessation of other sources of income, according to his defense.
He had been placed in pre-trial detention in this Brians 2 penitentiary center upon his arrest in January 2023, after being accused of the rape of a young woman on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022 in a nightclub in Barcelona. Tried at first instance last month, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and therefore remained behind bars. The prosecution opposed this request for release, considering that the risk of flight was significant.
The judicial decision criticized
The victim’s lawyer, Mᵉ Ester Garcia, criticized the court’s decision, citing a ” Justice for the rich “. This decision was also criticized by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who considered that “the money that Daniel Alves has (…) born [pouvait] cannot atone for a man’s offense against a woman he has raped..
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To convince the court to accept this release, his lawyer Mᵉ Guardiola argued that the former player had already served a quarter of the sentence handed down at first instance. This four and a half year prison sentence handed down on February 22 was much lower than the prosecution’s demands, which called for nine years in prison. The prosecution announced that it would appeal.
The court also forced the player to pay 150,000 euros to his victim and imposed five years of supervised release on him after his release from prison, as well as a ban on approaching his victim for nine and a half years.
During his trial, Alves, aged 40, assured that the sexual relationship was consensual, but his defense had been weakened by his numerous changes of versions, pinned down by the prosecution. The player has appealed, but the date of his new trial is still unknown.
The Seleçao, the Brazilian national football team, currently in Madrid for a match Tuesday evening against La Roja, expressed its solidarity on Friday “with the victims”after being criticized for her silence following the rape convictions of Alves and Robinho.