Dani Alvès very close to being released from prison. The former PSG and FC Barcelona player paid bail of one million euros to get out of prison, the Barcelona court said on Monday.
“We inform you that the deposit of Daniel Alves’ deposit has been recorded in the accounts of the 21st section of the Barcelona Court,” said in a press release this court, which had accepted last Wednesday the release of the player subject to the payment of this deposit.
The player appealed his sentence last month to 4 1/2 years in prison for rape. As a reminder, Spanish justice withdrew his two passports, Spanish and Brazilian, so that he could not leave the country. Dani Alves will have to report to the police station once a week.
Neymar’s father issued a denial last week to deny having paid bail and assure that he would not do so. Neymar, who admitted in January to having paid 150,000 euros to help the ex-lateral pay his legal fees, assured Thursday that since Alves’ conviction, the situation was “different”.
Dani Alves’ financial situation has deteriorated considerably since his arrest, notably with the suspension of his contract with the Mexican club Pumas and the cessation of other sources of income, according to his defense.
He had been placed in pre-trial detention in this Brians 2 penitentiary center upon his arrest in January 2023, after being accused of the rape of a young woman on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022 in a nightclub in Barcelona.
Tried at first instance last month, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and therefore remained behind bars.
He will have to appear in court every week
In accepting his release last Wednesday, the court ruled that he would have to appear in court every week and respond to “all legal summons” between now and his new trial, the date of which is unknown.
He will also be prohibited from approaching within one kilometer of the victim’s home or place of work and from coming into contact with them.
The prosecution opposed this request for release, considering that the risk of flight was significant. The victim’s lawyer, Me Ester García, criticized the court’s decision, speaking of “justice for the rich”.
This decision was also criticized by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who declared that “the money that Daniel Alves has (…) cannot redeem the offense of a man against a woman that ‘he raped’.
To convince the court of this release, his lawyer, Me Inés Guardiola, argued that the former player had already served a quarter of the sentence handed down at first instance.
The sentence of four and a half years’ imprisonment handed down on February 22 was much lower than the prosecution’s demands, which called for nine years in prison. The prosecution announced that it would appeal so that the sentence could be increased. The court also forced the player to pay 150,000 euros to his victim and imposed five years of supervised release on him after his release from prison, as well as a ban on approaching his victim for nine and a half years.
During his trial, Alves, aged 40, assured that the sexual relationship was consensual, but his defense had been weakened by his numerous changes of versions, pinned down by the prosecution.
At the time of his incarceration, the right-back was playing for the Mexican club Pumas, who dismissed him.
On Friday, the “Seleçao”, the Brazilian national football team, expressed its “solidarity with the victims”.
