Brazil's Dani Alves asks to be released on bail during trial for rape

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Apr 2023 23:32

Alves remains in detention without bail since January after being accused of raping a woman in a nightclub bathroom in Barcelona.

FC Barcelona player Dani Alves with his team in Sydney, Australia, on May 24, 2022 (Reuters)

Brazil football defender Dani Alves requested his trial's judge on Thursday to be released on bail while he awaits being tried for rape, and is currently in custody in Barcelona.

He has been in detention without bail since January after being accused of raping a woman in a nightclub bathroom in Barcelona.

He has also been awaiting without bail because the authorities feared he would attempt to flee the country, but his lawyers have argued that he "can and wants to defend himself and will not avoid the trial," after their first request for his release was rejected in February.

"There is an elevated risk of absconding, linked on the one hand to the high sentence that could be imposed because of the present case, the serious evidence of criminality against him, and large financial resources that would allow him to leave Spain at any time," the court indicated in a statement at the time.

The court believes that taking his passport would not prevent him from leaving Spain "by air or sea or even by land without documentation." If he were to return to Brazil, his homeland, the court believes he would not be handed over to Spain as the South American country does not usually extradite its citizens.

During his statement to the judge on Monday, Alves confessed that he and the woman had sexual relations but claimed that it was consensual after initially denying having known the woman.

He has altered his story multiple times, which occurred when he was vacationing in Barcelona after playing for his national team Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar. He was considered the oldest player to represent Brazil at the time.

His Mexican club, Pumas UNAM, discharged him after his arrest.

Alves has made 408 appearances for Barcelona so far, and during that time period, he scored six La Liga titles, three Champions League crowns, and four Copa del Rey trophies.