The trial of Dani Alves, first day: the shocking testimony of the complainant and when the Brazilian testifies accused of rape

With the shocking testimony of the 24-year-old girl who reported having been raped by the Brazilian Daniele Alvesarticle 21 of Barcelona hearing The trial began this Monday in which an attempt is being made to reconstruct what happened in the early hours of 31 December 2022 when, in the Sutton nightclub in the Catalan city, the crime was committed which could condemn the former footballer to a sentence of between 9 and 12 years in prison.

In front of the four judges of the Court the woman told what happened that night at the bowling alley. She did it behind closed doors and with the utmost caution to protect her identity.

The woman, since she had reported the former Barcelona player at the beginning of last year, he never contradicted his initial version.

The judges listened to the statement of the girl, who is currently 24 years old, who spoke separated from Alves by a screen, to prevent them from looking at each other, and with her voice distorted and her face pixelated for the judicial cameras that filmed the event. testimonies as a judicial procedure.

However, weeks ago, her name and image circulated on social networks in a “reel” that wanted to show her in a festive attitude and with friends to discredit the fact that she was going through a traumatic situation after the rape complaint, as she explained his defense lawyer. she points out.

“Slimy”, the brutal description of a witness friend of the victim

Alves’ mother, María Lucía Alves, also echoed the video which she later deleted from her networks.

Among the six witnesses scheduled to testify this Monday were cousin and friend of the young womanwho shared with her the night between 30 and 31 December in the Sutton nightclub where the reported assault took place.

They described Alves’ attitude that night as “slobbering.”.

And regarding the girl’s reaction to seeing them again, the friend assured: “He came out crying and told me: ‘It hurt me a lot’”. And she stressed that the young woman wanted to go home and she didn’t want to press charges. “They won’t believe me”she repeated, again according to the testimony of her friend and cousin, who convinced her to appear before Justice.

The former player’s lawyer asked the complainant’s cousin: “Did your cousin tell you that he entered the bathroom voluntarily?”.

“Yes”was the answer.

In the bathroom of the upstairs cabin of the Sutton nightclub were Alves and the young woman, who was 23 at the time. locked up for 16 minutes.

The former Brazilian defender initially claimed that he had never seen the young girl in his life. Then he admitted that yes, they had met in the bathroom. Eventually he admitted to having had sex with her. He said he was “spoiled”.

This aspect will be decisive when the sentence is issued. It is the first media case to be tried under the new law “only yes is yes”which was approved in April last year and changed the legislation on sexual crimes in Spain.

According to current legislation, any physical contact must have the consent of both parties. And it reinforces the concept: This consent must be explicitly expressed.

“I couldn’t resist, I couldn’t even speak”

Some details of the complaint that the young woman ratified this Monday in the Barcelona court had been leaked weeks before the trial.

When she appeared before the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan regional police, in January last year, the girl said she had not known Dani Alves before and admitted that, after the former footballer had insisted that she and her friends join the ‘At the table she shared with a friend in the nightclub booth, she stood up, stopped in front of a door and knocked.

“I went there to talk to him. I never knew where I was going.”She said.

“He walked away and made a gesture as if I should go towards him, until finally I thought, ‘Talk to him and see what he wants,’” she added. And I didn’t think about anything else.”

“He opened it and I walked in, and when I walked in I saw what I was walking into, I saw it was a tiny bathroom, I saw it was very, very small, I think that’s when my shock started,” he stated the girl.

“Later I remember he sat down and I started telling him, ‘I have to go, I have to go,’” she recalled. The memory of him lifting my dress and sitting me on it. I remember telling him, “I can’t.” And she started telling me a lot of things. He insisted that I tell him that I was his little slut and from that moment on I remember resisting. “He pulled up my dress and made me sit on it.”

This is how the testimony given months ago by the young woman continues: “He hurt my knee and I was left with a wound… He tried to convince me to do Fellatio on him. I kept moving away from him all the time, until she grabbed me by the neck and started slapping me.

“He wanted to perform oral sex on me, I remember that at that moment I got even more nervous. Then there I just remember that she started to penetrate me very hard, very, very hard. There I felt as if I was fainting, I couldn’t resist, I couldn’t even speak,” the young woman said at the time.

Alves, in pre-trial detention since January 20, 2023, will not open his mouth until Wednesday, the last day of the trial.

This Monday, his lawyer proposed to declare the judicial process null and void due to the “parallel trial” that his client underwent in the media. He also claimed that Alves suffered a “violation of rights”.

However, the Court did not give rise to Dani Alves’ attempted defense He allowed his testimony to close the third day of hearings.

The former player will therefore be the last to testify, after the 28 witnesses who will pass through the Barcelona court in these three days.