Dani Alves sexual assault trial gets underway

The trial of former FC Barcelona footballer Dani Alves for allegedly raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub got underway on Monday and is set to last until Wednesday.

Alves is accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman on the night of December 30, 2022. The incident took place in the bathroom of a VIP area at the Sutton nightclub in the Catalan capital. 

The legal team of the former football had requested to suspend the trial, claiming the violation of several of his rights, but the court of Barcelona rejected this appeal and will continue with the trial, considering that no rights have been violated.

Alves will declare last in the trial, as requested by his defense team.

The court said that Alves was advised by a lawyer from the moment he was arrested by the Mossos, and that is why he does not believe that his rights have been violated.

A friend of the complainant told the court that Alves had a "slob" attitude when he gave her the two greeting kisses and touched her back near her buttocks.

"I didn't like [Alves'] attitude, so I moved to the other side of the table, but I didn't say anything," she told the court in a half-hour testimony.

She also said that immediately after the alleged events occurred, the victim said that Alves had hurt her by penetrating her.

The complainant's friend also stated that initially she did not want to report what had happened because she thought no one would believe her, and that since then she has not worked, she has suffered from anxiety, and is "obsessive" the few times she goes out.

After the alleged rape, the complainant's friend received a WhatsApp message from the victim's cousin telling her that her friend wanted to leave. They all met at the coat check, and the victim was "heartbroken like never before." 

"It hurt me a lot, it hurt me a lot, he came inside," the complainant said repeatedly, according to her friend. 

The victim, who testified behind closed doors, confirmed the reported facts, according to sources present at the statement.

Alves' lawyer, Inés Guardiola, also said that during the entire investigation, a parallel trial was ongoing against him in the media, which meant that he has been considered guilty by a large part of society.

On the day of Alves' arrest, his then-lawyer only had access to part of the police report, 119 pages, and only two hours before giving a statement in court. The defense also regretted that there were leaks to the press.

Rape accusation 

The woman's lawyers are asking for a 12-year prison sentence for Alves – the maximum legal time allowed for crimes of sexual assault with penetration – in addition to more than €150,000 in compensation. Public prosecutors are asking for a nine-year prison sentence.  

Alves has been in preventive detention since January 2023 and has changed his lawyer twice, having been refused bail on several occasions. 

Alves was reported to the police for sexual assault by a 23-year-old woman who accused him of raping her in the bathroom of a VIP area at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30, 2022. 

The former Barça player has changed his version of events three times, initially denying that he knew the woman, then saying that sex was instigated by her, then that she performed oral sex on him while he was defecating in the toilet, and finally that it was consensual penetrative vaginal sex. 

None of Alves' versions have helped him get out of prison on bail, nor has he been able to convince the judge that he did not pose a flight risk. 

According to the version of events from the alleged victim, which has been consistent since the beginning, the Brazilian footballer invited her and two friends to the VIP area on the night of December 30, 2022. 

After dancing and flirting with them, Alves allegedly took the woman with him through a door, which she says she thought was a space to smoke.

Once inside, she was surprised to find herself in a small bathroom and wanted to leave, but Alves allegedly forced her to have sex with him against her will. 

The woman's version has been corroborated by several security cameras, witnesses, her fingerprints on the toilet, Alves' DNA on her clothing and vagina, and injuries she sustained that are consistent with her story.