Dani Alves’ trial for alleged sexual assault to start Monday in Barcelona

After spending a year in a Spanish jail, Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves will go on trial this week for allegedly sexually assaulting a young woman at a Barcelona night club.

Alves, a former Barcelona player, is accused of sexually assaulting the woman on the night of December 30, 2022. He denies any wrongdoing. The trial is scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at a Barcelona courthouse.

State prosecutors are seeking a nine-year prison sentence for Alves if convicted while the lawyers representing his accuser want 12 years.

Under Spain’s 2022 sexual consent law, the crime of sexual assault takes in a wide array of crimes from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different possible punishments. A case of rape can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Alves, now 40, was arrested on January 20, 2023 after answering a police summons during a visit to Spain. A court ordered him to be jailed after analyzing the initial police investigation and hearing testimony from the alleged victim, witnesses and the player himself.

Before he was indicted by an investigative judge in August, Alves’ lawyers unsuccessfully tried to discredit testimony by his accuser and other witnesses by presenting security camera footage at the nightclub. The court has said that any alleged flirting should not “in any way justify an eventual sexual assault.”

Alves’ requests for bail were denied because the court considered him a flight risk, even though he offered to hand over his passport and wear a tracking device. Brazil does not extradite its own citizens when they are sentenced in other countries.

Alves has modified his defense several times.

At first, he denied having ever seen the woman when he went dancing at the Sutton nightclub in one of Barcelona’s upscale neighborhoods.

Upon his arrest, he denied any sexual contact with her, only to admit three months later to a sexual encounter that he said was consented to by the woman. He said he had been trying to save his marriage by not admitting to the sexual encounter initially.

And after his indictment, he reportedly has alleged that he was drunk as an extenuating circumstance.

Alves has changed attorneys three times. At the trial he will be represented by Inés Guardiola, a defense specialist, who he hired in October.

The alleged victim is represented by Ester García, a specialist in prosecuting sex crimes.

The trial will be before a three-judge panel presided over by magistrate Isabel Delgado. Twenty-eight witnesses will give testimony between Monday and Tuesday before the court hears experts on Wednesday. The court will decide on Monday when Alves and his accuser testify.

The court has ordered that the accuser’s testimony will be behind closed doors and that no image of her can be taken to protect her identity. That decision came after a video circulated on social media last month that allegedly identified the woman.

Three days after his arrest, Alves was transferred by officials for safety reasons to the Brians 2 prison about 45 minutes northwest of Barcelona. He has been there ever since.

Alves has been ordered to set aside 150,000 euros ($162,000) to pay his alleged victim if he is found guilty and ordered to pay damages.

Alves’ arrest shattered his image of a charismatic winner with a lengthy and successful career.

He won major titles with several elite clubs, including Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. He also helped Brazil win two Copa America trophies and an Olympic gold medal at age 38. He played at his third World Cup, the only major title he’s not won, in 2022.

The right back was a key part of Barcelona’s golden years playing between 2008-16 as a teammate of Lionel Messi. He won the Champions League three times during that stretch with the Catalan club, which he briefly rejoined in 2022.

Alves had his contract with Mexican club Pumas terminated immediately after his arrest.

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