2024-02-07 12:04:26
Opening this Monday in Barcelona, the trial for rape of Dani Alves continues and the Brazilian will have to explain himself. The decision will be made in several weeks.
The trial of former Barça and PSG star Dani Alves for the rape of a young woman in a nightclub is due to end on Wednesday in Barcelona court, with the Brazilian footballer’s highly anticipated testimony. The third day of hearings in this trial, followed by dozens of journalists, will begin at 2:00 p.m. GMT.
The former right-back of the Seleçao, silent and closed-faced since the start of the debates, must speak after hearing several experts. The verdict, which will be deliberated at the end of the trial, will probably not be known for several weeks.
Danis Alves, 40, is accused of raping a young woman in the toilets of a VIP room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022.
In pre-trial detention for a little over a year, he has contested the facts since the start of the case. But his defense was weakened by his numerous changes of version.
After claiming in a video at the beginning of January 2023 that he had never met the complainant, he justified his lie by explaining that he wanted to protect his marriage, before ending up recognizing a sexual relationship with the complainant, but consensual according to him.
Nine years in prison required
The prosecution is demanding nine years in prison for the footballer, as well as payment of 150,000 euros to the young woman and 10 years of supervised release at the end of his incarceration.
According to the indictment, Alves, who was then in Barcelona after playing the World Cup in Qatar, was at the nightclub with a friend. After offering champagne to the complainant, her cousin and a friend, he allegedly invited her to accompany him to an adjoining room with a toilet.
Alves would then have had a «violent attitude» towards the young woman, whom he allegedly forced to have sexual relations, according to the prosecution, which describes a “situation of anxiety and terror” for the young woman.
A version corroborated Monday by the friend and cousin of the complainant. She “crying desperately” and wanted to leave the nightclub saying that Alves had made him “much trouble”, said her friend. According to the cousin, the young woman goes out “barely from home” since the attack and is on antidepressants.
The complainant testified on Monday behind closed doors to protect her identity, and behind a screen to avoid any visual contact with Alves. His voice was altered and his face pixelated on the recording, intended for the judges’ use only, in case it were leaked.
“In a state of shock”
Heard on Tuesday, several police officers and employees of the nightclub described the“State of shock” of the complainant that evening and her reluctance to file a complaint. “She told me that no one was going to believe her, that she had entered voluntarily but then wanted to get out and that she couldn’t”said one of the managers of the nightclub.
Joana Sanz, wife of Dani Alves present at the trial. LLUIS GENE / AFP
The friend who accompanied Alves as well as the player’s wife insisted on the player’s state of intoxication that evening. He “smelled of alcohol” et “When he entered the room, he bumped into several pieces of furniture and collapsed on the bed” before falling asleep, Joana Sanz said.
One of the most successful footballers in history, Dani Alves enjoyed the most glorious period of his career at Barça, between 2008 and 2016, where he won 23 trophies.
The player, who also played for Sevilla (Spain), Juventus Turin (Italy) and Paris Saint-Germain, was playing for the Mexican club Pumas at the time of his incarceration. This club, with which he was under contract until the end of last season, then immediately dismissed him.
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