Dani Alves to give new statement to judge next Monday at own request

Dani Alves, the former FC Barcelona player currently in preventive detention in the Catalan capital after being accused of sexual assault, will give a new statement to the investigating judge on Monday, at his own request. 

Alves will testify in person and it will be the first time he does so in the court with the new lawyer representing him, Cristóbal Martell, who took the case when the athlete was already in prison.

It will also be the first time he testifies before the investigating judge, as the decision to keep him in preventive detention was made by a substitute judge.

Alves has been in prison since January accused of raping a 23-year-old girl on December 31 in the toilets of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.

In the previous statements, Alves admitted that there had been sexual relations with the plaintiff after having denied it, but affirmed it had been consensual. The former Barça player has thus far given four versions of what happened that night.

The judge did not give credibility to this statement and decided to send him to prison as they viewed him as a serious flight risk.

According to the Barcelona provincial court, there are "severe indications of criminality" based not only on the 23-year-old victim's testimony, but also on the witness statements provided by her friends and nightclub staff as well as forensic evidence.