Former Barça and PSG star, footballer Dani Alves has been on trial since Monday in Barcelona for the rape of a young woman in a nightclub in December 2022.
The prosecution is demanding nine years in prison for the former Brazilian international, as well as payment of 150,000 euros to the young woman and 10 years of supervised release at the end of his incarceration.
Followed on site by dozens of journalists, this trial, which is due to last until Wednesday, began around 9:30 a.m. GMT with procedural questions.
Wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, the 40-year-old Brazilian took his seat in the front row after entering the courtroom through a side door.
In pre-trial detention for more than a year, Alves, who disputes the facts, is accused of having raped a young woman in the toilets of a VIP room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022 .
According to the indictment, the player, who was then spending a few days of vacation in Barcelona after the World Cup in Qatar, was in this nightclub with a friend. After offering champagne to the complainant, her cousin and a friend, he allegedly invited her to accompany him to an adjoining room with a toilet, which she did not know.
“Anguish and terror”
Alves would then have had a “violent attitude” towards the young woman, whom he would have forced to have sexual relations, again according to the prosecution.
Ines Guardiola (center), lawyer for Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, at the start of her client’s trial before a court in Barcelona (Spain), February 5, 2024 / Jordi BORRAS / POOL/AFP
“The victim asked him several times (…) to let her go, saying that she wanted to leave, but the accused prevented her from doing so,” we can still read in the document. accusation, which describes a “situation of anguish and terror” for the young woman.
Medically taken care of that night, the complainant suffered from “post-traumatic stress of generally high intensity” for which she was being monitored, according to the public prosecutor.
In order to protect her in the face of the great media interest aroused by this trial, her hearing, scheduled for Monday, will be held behind closed doors. Her identity will also never be revealed during the hearings, while a screen will allow her not to be “visually confronted with the accused”, the court decided.
Brazilian footballer Dani Alves at the start of his trial before a court in Barcelona (Spain), February 5, 2024 / Jordi BORRAS / POOL/AFP
The latter, who must also hear around twenty witnesses, on the other hand rejected the request of the prosecution which wanted the trial to take place entirely behind closed doors.
Change of versions
Since the start of the case, Dani Alves has changed his version several times, going so far as to say in a video at the beginning of January that he had never met the complainant.
He then justified himself by asserting that he did not want to jeopardize his marriage, before eventually admitting that he had had a sexual relationship with the young woman, but that it was consensual.
Brazilian defender Dani Alves participates in the Brazil-South Korea match of the 2022 World Cup, December 5, 2022 in Doha / Odd ANDERSEN / AFP/Archives
Spanish justice has repeatedly refused his release pending trial, highlighting a “high risk of flight” for the player to Brazil, a country which generally does not extradite its nationals.
Alves’ lawyers also tried to reach an agreement with the plaintiff before the start of the trial, as the latter’s lawyer admitted at the end of November.
Such an agreement, mentioned again in recent days, could have allowed the player to be sentenced to a lesser sentence in exchange for recognition of his guilt and compensation for the victim.
One of the most successful footballers in history, Dani Alves enjoyed the most glorious period of his career at Barça, between 2008 and 2016, where he won 23 trophies.
The player, who also played in Seville (Spain) and Juventus Turin (Italy), was playing in the Mexican club Pumas at the time of his incarceration in January 2022. This club, with which he was under contract until at the end of last season, immediately fired him.
