Justice held a hearing on Thursday to decide whether or not the Brazilian footballer should be detained
The Barcelona court is now considering whether or not Dani Alves should remain in jail, accused of rape, until trial. The Provincial Court held a hearing this Thursday to rule on an appeal lodged by the former Barça and Sevilla player asking for his provisional release. The third section of the provincial session has discussed the case with the lawyers of the parties. Neither the victim nor the alleged rapist were present. Justice could decide between this Thursday and the next few days whether the footballer is still in prison. There is no fixed deadline, although it is not expected to take too long.
Alves, who is suspected of assaulting a 23-year-old girl in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, has been behind bars since January 20. His lawyer, Cristóbal Martell, appealed the order ordering him in prison. The investigating judge number 15 in Barcelona decided to send him to prison when it saw signs of crime and because of the high risk of flight. There were two arguments for the magistrate to see a flight risk: her economic standing and the lack of extradition agreements between Spain and Brazil.
During Thursday’s hearing, lawyers for Alves and the victim and the Public Prosecutor put forward their arguments. The girl’s lawyer who sued the footballer and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have rejected his release, while the alleged rapist’s lawyer has defended his release. The Public Prosecution Service and the victim’s lawyer have argued that there is a risk of flight. The footballer has businesses in Brazil, where his children live. The victim and the Public Prosecution Service fear a new case like that of Robinho. The former Madrid and Milan player was convicted of rape in Brazil but has never served his sentence as he lives in Brazil and has not been extradited. The lawyer has also argued that a release just one month after entering prison “would be an attack on the psychological integrity of the victim”. According to the Public Prosecution Service, there are “sufficient indications of committing a crime of assault with penetration and a serious risk of flight”.
The Public Prosecution Service believes that “there is a serious risk of escape because Alves has Brazilian nationality, has very high assets that would allow him to secure his escape and does not have sufficient roots in Spain.” “The alternative measures proposed by his defense are not sufficient to guarantee his availability to the Spanish courts during the hearing of the case,” he concluded.
Alves’ lawyer, on the other hand, has tried to prove that there is no danger of flight. The argument he has put forward is that Alves voluntarily returned to Barcelona from Mexico, where he played, to testify before the Mossos and the investigating judge. He has also proposed some measures to prove that he will not flee, such as handing over his two passports (Spanish and Brazilian), wearing a telematics bracelet to be reachable at all times, in addition to appearing in court periodically. Martell has emphasized that his client has roots in Spain, where he has been registered since 2010. One of the arguments he put forward is that he is married to a Spanish woman.
On the merits of the case, whether there was an offense or not, the Brazilian winger’s lawyer has indicated that “there are reasons to doubt”. Martell regrets the “early trial” against his client. Alves is accused of assaulting and raping a 23-year-old girl at Sutton nightclub in the Catalan capital. The events took place on December 30. First she said that she did not know the victim, then that she ran into her in the local toilets, and finally that there were relations, but consensual and that she was the one who performed fellatio on him. The DNA testing dismantles this third version as it confirms there was penetration, as the victim claims. Martell has questioned the victim’s version. His interpretation of the facts is that there was consensual sex. He has argued that the girl had no vaginal lesions.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
