Experienced football professional, Dani Alves, is currently facing a trial in Spain due to accusations of sexual aggression. Alves, who is 40 years old and from Brazil, has been in custody for a year. His trial, which started on Monday, is expected to continue until Wednesday and has caught the attention of many media outlets. The first day of the trial saw the alleged victim being questioned. To protect her identity, the young woman gave her testimony behind closed doors, as per the prior instructions of the Catalan judiciary.
The potential consequences for Alves if found guilty are severe. The public prosecutor’s office is calling for a nine-year prison sentence and is also demanding 150,000 euros in damages. The plaintiff’s lawyers are pushing for an even longer sentence of twelve years. The trial is set to proceed until Wednesday, with a total of 28 witnesses and experts scheduled to testify over the three days. Alves, based on his lawyers’ request, is slated to give his testimony on the last day of the trial. The final verdict is anticipated to be announced by the end of February at the latest.
During the trial, Alves, who was dressed in a white shirt and jeans, was accompanied by his mother. The former FC Barcelona player had initially denied all sexual contact with the woman during the investigation. However, his lawyer later claimed that the sexual acts were consensual.
Alves’ new lawyer is currently pushing for his acquittal by arguing that Alves was heavily intoxicated at the time the alleged crime took place. She began her argument by asserting that her client’s right to the presumption of innocence had been violated due to prejudgment in the media. As a result, the defense initially applied for the trial to be annulled on Monday, but this application was rejected by the court.
The 126-time Seleção international player has been in custody in Barcelona since January of the previous year. A woman reported Alves, accusing him of forcing her to have sex in a Barcelona nightclub on December 30, 2022. Alves was arrested on January 20 while he was in Catalonia. Prior to his arrest, he had been playing for the UNAM Pumas club in Mexico. (dpa)
