Dani Alves testifies: 'I'm not violent. We were both enjoying ourselves.'

Former FC Barcelona footballer Dani Alves testified in court in Barcelona on Wednesday, on the third and final day of his trial for rape. 

Alves said the relations he had with the woman who has accused him of sexual assault were consensual at all times. 

"I'm not violent," Alves told the court, saying that at no point did the woman ask him "to stop or to leave" the VIP bathroom of the Sutton Club Barcelona where the events in question took place on the night of December 30, 2022. 

The former Brazil footballer said that both he and the woman were "enjoying themselves" and that he did not have to "insist" much for the woman to enter the bathroom and have sex. Alves also told the court that he drank a lot that day. 

"We were all enjoying ourselves"

Alves gave testimony for around 20 minutes, responding to questions from his lawyer only, and appearing upset and close to tears. 

He said he remembered everything that happened that night, despite saying that he drank a lot. 

Alves and his friend were in the VIP area of the club when the woman and her two companions arrived. 

They danced and talked with no problems, Alves said. 

"We were all enjoying ourselves," he said, saying that he did not notice that they were uncomfortable, as the two women who were with the victim have said in court. 

Alves said that he believes the women did know that he was a famous ex-Barça player, something the three women have always denied. 

"I didn't have to insist" 

At some point, Alves began to dance more with the complainant, getting closer to her, but always "with respect," he said. 

They started "grinding," the woman touched his genitalia, and he noticed a certain "sexual attraction," Alves went on. 

It was then that Alves told her to go to the bathroom. "I didn't have to insist," he said. 

Alves went in first and waited inside for a while on his own. When he thought the woman wasn't going to come, he went to leave and met her at the door on her way in. As soon as the woman entered, they started kissing, he said. 

With his pants down, he sat on the toilet and the woman reportedly started performing oral sex on him. 

Alves showed the court how he was sitting with his back against the toilet cistern and with his legs open while the woman performed oral sex. 

Alves then penetrated the woman's vagina. When he was going to ejaculate, he said, he pushed her aside, half got up and ejaculated "outside" the woman, although she had traces of semen in her vagina and underwear. 

"I'm not violent" 

Alves denied that the woman put her hands in the sink, where her fingerprints were found, while the victim claimed she leaned on it while Alves penetrated her from behind. 

He also denied that the woman told him that she wanted him to stop, that she did not want to keep going, or that she wanted to leave. 

"I didn't hit her, I didn't pull her hair, I didn't throw her to the ground, I'm not violent," Alves said. 

He also denied calling her his "little whore" and said he did not try to perform oral sex on her. 

"At no time did she say anything to me, we were both enjoying ourselves," he concluded. 

Before and after the club 

Before going to the club, Alves explained that he went to lunch and dinner with four friends. Alves alone drank two whole bottles of wine, as well as whiskey and then a gin and tonic in a bar. One of his friends drove him to the club. 

His wife was sleeping when he got home, Alves said, although on Tuesday in court Joana Sanz had said that she was awake. 

Alves learned of the accusation through the press and "his whole world fell apart." He instructed his lawyer to ask for a copy of the police report, but they did not give it to him. He went to police voluntarily on January 20, when he was arrested by the Mossos d'Esquadra. 

Regarding the different version given in court compared to his previous statements, he said that the first time he testified he did not want to admit intercourse so that his wife would not get angry. 

The prosecution, however, has asked the court to take into account three statements, two given during the investigation and the one from the trial on Wednesday. 

Woman told police officer that Alves hit her 

Before Alves' statement, the court viewed footage from the nightclub's security cameras. Footage recorded by accident by a police officer's camera was also viewed, where the conversation between the officer, the victim and her friend can be heard. 

The woman, crying, explained that Alves had been "hitting" her and had "thrown her to the ground."  

The officer asked her if Alves had inserted his fingers into her vagina, as a nightclub worker had told him. The officer also told her that she could have entered the bathroom voluntarily and then said she did not want sex with Alves. 

The woman said that she did not want to talk much and did not want to report the incident. "I don't want anything", she added. 

Her friend introduced herself as a lawyer. The officer tried to convince the young woman that they should do a forensic evaluation, although he added that if there hadn't been "a lot of aggression" there wouldn't be "much to explore" and the medical visit would be quick. 

The woman was worried that her name would appear publicly, but the police officer assured her that it would not leave the judicial sphere. 

Defense highlight alcohol consumption 

At the end of Alves' statement, public prosecutors and the lawyers representing the woman maintained their provisional conclusions, asking for nine and twelve years in prison respectively. 

The defense has asked for acquittal or, alternatively, a year in prison, with alcohol as an extenuating factor. 

The alleged victim testified behind closed doors on Monday.

Rape accusation 

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.