EX-BRAZIL star Dani Alves is set to walk out of prison today after allegedly getting Neymar’s dad to pay his €1million (£850,000) bail.
Alves, 40, won his fight to appeal his four-and-a-half year jail sentence from the comfort of his own home – which the lawyer of his victim branded “justice for the rich”.
The Barcelona court’s ruling came a day after his lawyer requested the disgraced footballer’s release on grounds he had already served a quarter of his sentence in pre-trial detention following his arrest in January 2023.
The decision, which was not unanimous due to one dissenting judge on the panel of three, can be appealed.
But the court’s ruling drew a furious response from the lawyer of the young woman, 23, who was raped by Alves at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.
Her lawyer Ester Garcia blasted the decision as “scandalous”.
She fumed on RAC1 radio: “I’m very surprised and totally outraged… because it’s like this is justice for the rich.”
Garcia added: “It is scandalous that they can free a person who they know can get hold of a million euros in a heartbeat.”
Sources close to Alves were saying today they were confident the bail cash the footballer has to hand over could be raised today.
But Alves has allegedly turned to his pal Neymar’s dad to front the money, LaVanguardia reports.
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According to sources close to the player, this is allegedly the same route he used to pay for the €150,000 (£128,000) compensation given to his victim.
Neymar Santos Sr reportedly made himself available to Alves after his assets were frozen under a Brazilian court order related to his ex-wife, Dinorah Santana.
The conditions for Alves’ release include relinquishing both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot flee Spain as well as an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis.
The court also imposed a restraining order, barring the shamed star from coming within 1km of his victim.
Public prosecutors had opposed his request, arguing he posed a high flight risk.
Alves, one of the world’s most decorated footballers who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, was sentenced on February 22 after being convicted of raping a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022.
His lawyers swiftly appealed the conviction.
Alves said via video link in a behind-closed-doors court hearing yesterday morning: “I am not going to flee, I believe in justice.”
The star protested his innocence on February 7 after taking the stand on the last day of his three-day trial, saying the sex he had with his 23-year-old female accuser was consensual and insisting he would never hurt anyone.
The victim, who testified behind a screen to protect her identity, said Alves had violently forced her to have sex in a private bathroom of the nightclub despite begging him to let her go, causing her “anguish and terror”, prosecutors said.
Alves’ lawyers had argued the victim had been “glued” to the player while dancing at the nightclub, saying there was “sexual tension” between them.
But the court said in its 61-page decision that this did not mean “that she consented to anything that might have subsequently happened”.
What happened?
BRAZILIAN international footballer Dani Alves was accused of raping a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, 2022.
In a trial held in Barcelona in February 2024, the footballer denied the allegations and said the encounter had been consensual.
Held at Barcelona’s Audiencia Provincial Court, the trial lasted three days and saw the victim, witnesses, and experts testify.
His accuser told the prosecution that she had willingly entered the bathroom with him, but that he forced her to stay after she wanted to leave.
In court she claimed that he was aggressive with her, slapping her and insulting her, and then forced her to have sex with him.
Following the trial, Alves was found guilty of raping the woman.
He was convicted on February 22 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years.
The court also ordered Alves to pay £130K (150,000 euros) in compensation to the victim.
The court said in a statement: “The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven.”
He had previously been held in pre-trial detention since his arrest on January 20, 2023.
Alves’ lawyers immediately appealed his sentence.
On March 20, 2024 – a Barcelona court released Alves on a bail of one million euros (££850,000) pending an appeal on his conviction.
His defense is seeking his acquittal while the prosecutor wants his prison sentence increased to nine years.
There is no date yet for the new trial at a higher court in Barcelona. It can then go to the Supreme Court in Madrid.
It was not immediately clear where Alves could spend his first night of freedom since January 20, 2023, when he was arrested.
His properties include a mansion in Esplugues de LLobregat, a 25-minute drive west of Barcelona’s city centre.
The home was built in 2010 when he was still married to his ex-wife Dinorah Santana, before he met and married Tenerife-born model Joana Sanz.
Sanz revealed last year she had demanded a divorce after Alves admitted for the first time he had sex with the woman he was found guilty of raping.
The 31-year-old brunette later said the divorce had been put on hold and she gave evidence on Alves’ behalf at his trial which lasted from February 5 to 7.
The footballer made several attempts to get bail before his conviction, but they were turned down partly on the basis he was a flight risk.
Prosecutors feared that he may attempt to flee Spain and make it to Brazil as the country does not extradite its citizens sentenced abroad.
The jail sentence he received, considered lenient by some critics, was far less than the nine years public prosecutors demanded and the 12 years Alves’ female accuser wanted.
Part of his lawyer’s arguments at today’s hearing at Barcelona’s Audiencia Provincial Court involved downplaying the idea he was now a flight risk.
His lawyer also argued that he had already served a quarter of his sentence in pre-trial detention which should be taken into account.
The public prosecutor and his victim’s lawyer are also appealing the sentence and want him to receive a stiffer punishment.
THE TRIAL
Alves, who became the oldest player to represent Brazil at the World Cup in December 2022 in Qatar, was ordered to stand trial last November.
Initially it was reported he had been accused of putting his hands down a woman’s underwear before it emerged his victim was saying she had been raped.
He was sacked by Mexican side UNAM Pumas following his arrest in Barcelona at the start of last year after he flew back to the Catalan capital to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Judges turned down his previous bail requests and stated that his victim’s version of events was coherent.
They argued that Alves had changed his story several times as the evidence authorities had built up against him emerged.
The disgraced footballer claimed before his arrest he had never met his female accuser but ended up backtracking after being held.
In an interview from prison last June with Spanish TV, he claimed: “The only person I have to ask for forgiveness is my wife.”
Joana Sanz gave evidence on his behalf and said he arrived home “very drunk”. His alcohol consumption that night was not taken into account as a mitigating factor.
Alves said in a letter, published by Joana but quickly removed: “I pray every day that the day comes when I can see you wake up.”
As well as two spells at Barcelona, Alves has played for Seville, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paulo.
He is widely considered as one of the greatest full-backs of all time.
At the start of the year ahead of his conviction, his mum Lucia Alves caused controversy and left herself open to future prosecution by naming and picturing her son’s victim in a social media post she later removed.
She attended his trial along with Alves’ brothers.
Spain’s second deputy PM Yolanda Diaz said after he was convicted: “I hope this prison sentence serves as an exemplary measure for all the sexist behaviour women suffer in all areas.”
Earlier this month, Dani Alves’ brother Ney blasted an internet prankster whose fake claims the footballer had killed himself in prison went viral.
Today, Catalonia’s High Court of Justice said in a statement: “The 21st section of the Barcelona Audiencia Provincial Court has agreed by a majority and with one dissenting vote to agree to the conditional release of Daniel Alves da Silva, with the payment of a bail bond of one million euros.
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“In the event that payment is made and his provisional release is agreed, his Spanish and Brazilian passports will be withdrawn, he will be banned from leaving Spain and he will have to sign on at the court on a weekly basis and appear in court whenever he is ordered to do so.
“Daniel Alves da Silva is also banned from going within 1,000 metres of the complainant’s home, place of work or any other place frequented by her…. until a final judgement is handed down after the appeals against his sentence have been concluded.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
