Dani Alves is released despite the conviction for sexual abuse: the bail to be paid and the arguments of the justice system in Barcelona

The Barcelona court has granted the provisional release of former Barcelona player Dani Alves, on bail of one million euros, pending the final sentence which will sentence him to four and a half years in prison for raping a young woman in a nightclub.

In an order, which was voted against by a magistrate in favor of the footballer’s detention, the Court of Barcelona authorizes Alves to leave prison upon payment of bail, with the obligation to hand over his two passports – Spanish and Brazilian – , do not leave Spain and appear in court weekly.

The ordinance also prohibits the footballer from coming within a thousand meters of the victim’s home, his workplace and any other place he frequents, as well as communicating with her by any means.

After receiving the Court’s decision, the Brazilian international’s defense attempts to collect the million euros requested by the Court: he will not be able to leave prison until he deposits it into the Court’s account and a new order authorizing his provisional release is issued . .

No risk of flight?

The 21st section of the Court of Barcelona held a hearing yesterday to resolve Alves’ request for release, which was opposed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecutor’s office, as the risk of flight persists given his high economic capacity.

The athlete’s defense has asked for his release, while the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) resolves the appeals against the sentence that sentenced him to four and a half years in prison for raping a young woman in the bathroom of the Sutton nightclub of Barcelona, ​​​​the night of January 30, 2022.

In its order, the Court finds that, after the four and a half year prison sentence imposed on the accused, the risk of escape linked to the severity of the sentence has “reduced” and, while admitting that a certain danger “persists”, This can be “counterpointed” with other measures, such as bail imposed and a ban on leaving Spain.

Another element that the court took into account in releasing Alves on bail is that “the sentence imposed was significantly reduced” compared to what was required by the charges – from nine to twelve years in prison – and that he has already been in pre-trial detention for 14 months.

At most, the Court argues, provisional detention could be extended until half the sentence has been served, but there will “hardly” be a final sentence during this period, it warns.

According to the court, the convict, who at yesterday’s hearing spoke before the court via videoconference to guarantee that he would not have escaped if he had been free, “expressed his firm intention to always remain at the disposal of the court”, as “he did from the beginning of the proceedings”.

In this sense, the magistrates recall that Alves went to Spain, where he currently resides, and “voluntarily” handed himself over to the authorities when he learned that he was being investigated for rape.

After recalling that the objective of precautionary custody “cannot in any case be to anticipate the effects of a hypothetical sentence” because this would violate the Constitution, the Court maintains that such an onerous measure will have to be reviewed once the sentence has been issued. sentence in the first instance.

“Each scenario requires its own evaluation and also imposes the verification of maintenance or, conversely, the evaluation of the circumstances”, maintains the Court, which refers to a constitutional ruling which establishes that time must be considered a “mitigating factor” when accepts preventive detention.

One of the three judges: the risk of escape is increased

One of the three judges present in the courtroom does not agree with the opinion of the majority and expressed a vote against in which he believes that Alves should be kept in prison, because the risk of flight “has not only been confirmed, but has been strengthened ” with the sentence and the possibility that it will be increased when the appeals are resolved.

In his dissenting opinion, Judge Luis Belest says the “punitive horizon” Alves had when he entered pretrial detention has not changed, as prosecutors continue to ask for 9 to 12 years in prison in their appeals.

He also claims that Alves “continues to have great economic capacity” – his house in Esplugues alone was purchased for five million euros, he specifies – and that the million euros imposed as bail is the amount a footballer of high level.

Furthermore, he underlines that “his personal environment, family and friends, the latter endowed with high purchasing power”, allow them to facilitate his departure from Spain, even giving up the million euros deposited in deposit.

Therefore, we remember that Brazil does not hand over its citizens to another country without an extradition treaty and that experience demonstrates the “ease with which anyone can evade border controls to put themselves in a situation where no one knows where find”, even without a passport.

The dissenting opinion also argues that the role of the judges would be “irreparably damaged” if the sentence could not be enforced, after the “enormous” investigative work of the case and the “double victimization” suffered by the victim, and warns that the footballer he has not undergone rehabilitative treatment to ensure he does not reoffend.

With information from EFE