The Court of Barcelona has rejected the appeal presented by Dani Alves and keeps him in provisional prison for an alleged sexual assault on a 23-year-old woman in a private room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. The court has considered that there are numerous indications of guilt on the part of the player in addition to the flight risk, since he has enough assets to evade justice.
The Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution maintained the request that Alves continue in prison opposing the appeal presented by his lawyer Cristóbal Martell. The Court of Barcelona "confirms the situation of provisional detention communicated and without bail of the investigated" and considers that "we share with the accusations that there is a high risk of flight linked on the one hand to the high penalty that may be imposed in the present case, the severe indications of criminality against him and the bulky economic capacity that would allow him, as we have said, to leave Spain at any time".
In addition, they rule out "that the alternative measures to provisional detention proposed by the defense are sufficient to neutralize the risk of flight that we have described as high." His defense requested freedom with some precautionary measure, such as appearing every 15 days in court or paying a bond, in addition to not communicating with or approaching the victim. However, the court rejects the request, considering that the investigation is practically over. Judicial sources suggest that the trial could be held this year.
In the order, the court recalls that "the knowledge that Alves now has of the existing evidence against him and of the entity thereof exponentially increases the risk of initial flight. His initial collaboration does not neutralize the risk of fleeing and avoiding both the end of the investigation as the foreseeable oral trial. His arrival in Barcelona and his presentation on January 20, 2023 before the Mossos d'Esquadra as agreed does not exclude, at this time, this risk".
In addition, he points out that "Alves's alleged ties to the city of Barcelona does not neutralize the risk either. It is true that he is married to a Spanish woman and that he is registered as a resident of the house in Esplugues de Llobregat, but this does not link him to this city. It is common knowledge that after spending time at Futbol Club Barcelona between 2008 and 2016, Daniel Alves left this club and the city and was signed by Juventus Turin for one season and by Paris Saint Germain for two seasons. , was signed again by Barça in the 2021-2022 season, a club that he left to play for the Pumas de la UNAM referred to above since last year.
"Therefore, although between 2008 and 2016 he had roots in our country and specifically in Barcelona, it is not maintained at the present time. His profession as an elite footballer has led him to reside in different cities and countries and Since he left Barça in 2016, his time in Barcelona has been sporadic. On the other hand, neither his registration in Esplugues nor his marriage to a Spanish woman allow to clear up doubts about his roots. The link is merely administrative and Alves Alves himself acknowledged that he comes to Barcelona only on vacation. To this we must add that his entire family, except his current wife, resides in Brazil. Thus, his parents, siblings and children all reside there. Therefore, although he has a known address , the detailed examination of their family and work circumstances do not show the alleged roots", indicates the court
Finally, the Court of Barcelona details that "the indications of criminality against Alves are diverse and do not start only from the statement of the complainant, but there are witnesses from the moment before and after the entry of the investigated person into the bathroom to which the victim in which both were inside for about 16 minutes and where the accusations maintain that the events occurred". "All the witnesses have testified, both the two young women who accompanied the complainant and the employees of the Sutton room who were in the VIP area and those who later attended it. All of them corroborate to a greater or lesser extent the statement of the victim," the car states.
In addition, it points out that the "multiple investigative procedures" carried out "such as the forensic medical examination of the victim with the collection of both bodily samples and visual inspection in the bathroom, the DNA analysis of said samples coinciding with that of Alves and corroborators, at least indicatively, of the version given by the complainant regarding vaginal penetration. So are the fingerprints collected and the analysis of the stills from the Sutton discotheque". For this reason, Alves will remain in prison.
After learning of the court decision, Alves' lawyers stated that "he is still as innocent as he was before the decision" and "his will to leave Spain and evade the process was and is non-existent." "The resolution is asymmetric. It uses as evidence the statements of charge offered by the police report and, on the other hand, the defense elements offered by the defense differ for the oral trial," the lawyers point out.
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