BarcelonaThis Monday morning, after spending the third night in Brians 1 prison, Dani Alves was told that he had to change prisons. Imprisoned provisionally for an alleged sexual assault, the Brazilian footballer was transferred to Brians 2, a few meters from where he had slept until now. This has been decided by the Secretary of Penal Measures, Reintegration and Victim Care of the Department of Justice of the Generalitat to guarantee safety and normal coexistence inside the prison, according to sources consulted by the ARA. As Alves gets used to the new cell, he continues to ponder with his surroundings whether to change lawyers after his defense failed at Friday’s hearing. His agents have already spoken to several lawyers, but the decision has not yet been made.
In front of the judge, he gave three different versions of the facts and their contradictions with the evidence provided by the Mossos d’Esquadra, together with the risk of flight (he has dual Spanish and Brazilian nationality and great purchasing power), led him to the prison. In Brians 2, Alves already has module 13, which usually houses the majority of those investigated or convicted of crimes against sexual freedom, and a cellmate. According to sources consulted, he will act as a “trusted prisoner”, a regular figure in prisons, who helps an inmate who has just entered to overcome this sudden situation.
There are about 200 interns in each Brians 1 module. In Brians 2, on the other hand, there are eighty prisoners per module. Thus, in front of a prisoner with unique characteristics, in the new Alves center it is much easier to control that the order is not altered; for example, that no one takes a picture of him and then makes it public. Everything is, the same voices point out, to heal in health. Now Alves will be in a prison ten years newer than the one he had already set foot in, smaller, and with its own toilet in the cells.
In search of a new strategy
In the last hours, the player and his environment are looking for a new strategy that will allow them to reverse the current situation. Last Friday, the footballer constantly contradicted himself with the tests of the Mossos and the version of the girl, but also with what he had said a few minutes ago. A few days before the hearing, he assured in a public video that he knew nothing about the victim. Then, in the City of Justice, he changed his version up to three times. He said one thing to the judge’s questions, another when questioned by the Prosecutor’s Office, and changed again when the questioner was the private prosecution. He even ended up saying that he had been the passive subject of the aggression. And he denied facts such as inviting the victim to a reservation, that he danced with her or that he opened a bottle of cava and served them, although videos and witnesses would verify the woman’s story. The 23-year-old victim has already rejected future compensation from the Brazilian and claims Alves beat her in the nightclub toilet, forced her to perform fellatio and vaginally penetrated her while slapping her until to ejaculate A version that he has maintained in all statements with great precision, even detailing the tattoos that Alves had on his abdomen. At no time has the player accepted that there was penetration, despite the remains of semen that could indicate otherwise. He does admit that he went into the toilet, but denies the assault.
All of this has led a part of the player’s environment to consider whether it was necessary to change the current lawyer, Miraida Wilson. “I think that the lawyer is not doing well”, Ney Alves, brother of the footballer, has come to affirm. However, he also claims that Alves’ ex-wife and agent, Dinorah Santana, is pushing for Wilson – whom he hired – to remain his lawyer. In fact, from those around Alves, it is pointed out that he has not spoken to his brother for years and that he has no weight in the new lawyer’s decision.
In any case, according to sources consulted by this newspaper, the movements of Alves’ environment to change lawyers are real. A part of this environment believes that a change needs to be made, also because Wilson’s specialty is economic and administrative issues rather than criminal ones such as those facing the player. Representatives of Alves have polled several Catalan law firms. Above all, there is a rapprochement with the lawyer Andrés Maluenda, who defended the ex-president of Barça Sandro Rosell, although nothing is closed yet. Family discussions could precisely be the reason for the delay.
But time runs and it does it against the player. If Alves wants to file an appeal within the deadline against the judge’s decision to lock him in prison, he will have to start defining his defense in the next few hours. According to judicial sources, he has until Wednesday – not counting the day of judicial grace – to contest before the investigating magistrate. His future defence, however, also has the option of appealing to the Court of Barcelona – so that a different court will evaluate it – within five working days. For now, while waiting for a new lawyer, Alves has not made any move. In front will be the Prosecutor’s Office, the defense of the victim and perhaps also the employers of the night entertainment, which this Monday asked the judge to be a popular accusation.
