The trial against Dani Alves has begun: the image of the former footballer and the wait for the statement of the woman who accused him of rape

After 380 days without leaving prison, the former Brazilian footballer Daniele Alves This Monday he traveled the 38 kilometers that separate the Brians 2 penitentiary center from the Barcelona Court where, until Wednesday, he will be judged: He is accused of raping a 23-year-old girl in the stand of a nightclub in the Catalan city, in the early hours of December 31, 2022..

The accused in the trial with summary number 27/2023 for a crime of sexual violence he is Daniel Alves da Silva, Brazilian, 40 years old, former Barcelona player and the footballer who, when he entered prison, boasted of being the one who had won the most trophies in the history of football. Lionel Messi equalized in August last year.

Alves has been sleeping behind bars, in preventive detention, since January 20, 2023, when he showed up to testify and was arrested.

Since then, he said five different modes lthat is, what, according to him, happened that night in the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, ​​​​where he unsuccessfully asked for bail and changed lawyers twice. Ines Guardiolahis current defender, is on his third attempt to prove his innocence.

Wearing a white shirt, jeans and sneakers, Alves listened to this Monday his lawyer asked for the trial to be suspended. Guardiola claimed “violation of the player’s rights”.

With time and the change of strategy, Alves went from declaring that he had never seen that girl to admitting that he had had sex with her. She said it was consensual and that there was erotic tension between them. The last mitigating factor to take into account is that he was drunk that morning.

The victim, who has maintained a single version since that morning, never made a move to claim that Dani Alves had abused her.

It will be essential to demonstrate or not consent in that sexual relationship that both admit.

The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 9 years in prison for Alves. The defense of the girl who reported him is asking for 12 and compensation of 150 thousand euros.

For days there has been talk of the possibility that the Brazilian would avoid trial if he reached an agreement with the victim. He would have had to admit to the sexual assault which he denied and, in this way, his sentence could have been reduced to four years.

But there was no agreement because the former player’s defense asked, in exchange for Alves’ acknowledgment of the violation, a three-year suspended sentence. Ester García, the lawyer of the young woman who reported it, deemed it unacceptable.

The Prosecutor’s Office had requested that the trial take place behind closed doors but the Barcelona Court rejected the request.

Article 21 of the hearing, however, stipulated that the three-day hearing was public He guaranteed that he will preserve the identity of the young woman who, at no time, will meet that of Alves.

The girl, now 24, will testify this Monday. She will always be accompanied by two psychologists.

He will do it behind a screen and behind closed doors. The images that courts usually record will distort your voice and your face will be pixelated.

During the trial she will never be mentioned by name. Whenever she is summoned she will be “the complainant”.

However, it was not possible to maintain the anonymity of the “complainant”. Weeks ago, Dani Alves’ mother posted her full name and videos of the young woman dancing and even blowing out the candles on her birthday to discredit the post-traumatic disorder that supports the girl’s defense. An investigation is underway into the dissemination of those images that Dani Alves’ mother deleted from her social networks.

The young woman, who initially refused to be compensated for the reported sexual violence, now accepts the punishment established by law. Her lawyer asks for 150 thousand euros.

Witnesses and evidence

The trial, which began this Monday at 10:00 -6:00 in Argentina-, will have 28 witnesses. Among these would be the model Joana Sanzsecond wife of the Brazilian.

In an open letter, Sanz announced, weeks after the scandal, his separation from Alves who, from prison, had denied him a divorce. In recent months the model has relativized her distance from the Brazilian.

The trial will also include recordings from the bowling alley cameras on the night between 30 and 31 December 2022 and traces of DNA found on the dress of the young woman who reported Alves and in the bathroom where she claims to have been raped. from the former player.

More than 300 media outlets – from 70 countries – are accredited to cover the trial against Dani Alves. They will be able to do this from inside the court, on closed circuit, in a room specially equipped for the press. The dissemination of images or audio recordings is prohibited.

On Tuesday the testimonies of 22 witnesses will be heard and on Wednesday it will be the turn of the expert reports.

At dawn on the last day of the year 2022, when the staff of the Sutton nightclub found her distraught and crying on the stairs of the club, the young woman who accuses Alves believed that, if she had reported the sexual violence she had just suffered, no one would listen to her. . “They won’t believe me, they won’t believe me”she repeated, desperate and helpless.

The trial, which began Monday, shows that judges and prosecutors believed him.