Cristina Rubio Barcelona

Barcelona

Updated Sunday, February 4, 2024-10:50

  • February 5 The Court of Barcelona rejects that the trial of Dani Alves be held behind closed doors: it will be public except for the testimony of the victim

  • Controversy Alves' mother removes from Instagram the images she published of the footballer's complainant

Tomorrow one of the big trials of the year begins due to the social and media impact, being the first of this magnitude after the approval of the Law of only yes means yes and due to the international magnitude of the defendant:

Dani Alves,

the former footballer who accused him. has won almost everything at the club and national team level, is accused of sexual assault of a girl in a bathroom at the

Sutton

nightclub in the Catalan capital on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022. Reported by the 23-year-old girl, He sits on the bench of the

Barcelona Court

and faces a request for a 9-year prison sentence, which the victim's defense raises to 12.

After a year and 15 days in preventive detention in Brians, the Brazilian arrives after having changed his version up to five times: he has gone from defending that he did not know the victim at all to alleging that the relations were consensual, that he had drunk more than the account that night that night and that he was not aware of his actions, since he was "seriously impaired by alcohol consumption."

His lawyer

Inés Guardiola

- she took over from the media

Cristóbal Martell and undertook a new turn in the defense - asks for

Alves

' acquittal

. However, she also adds in her letter that the former soccer player was drunk when he invited the victim and his two friends to the booth at the Sutton nightclub. An important variable in the strategy since, if it is considered proven, it could be a mitigating factor in the sentence.

To this end, the Brazilian plans to provide a ticket with the drinks that night as evidence and has requested the testimony of his ex-partner,

Joana Sanz,

in order to corroborate the supposed bad condition in which the footballer was.

The trial begins with the processing of the preliminary issues, although the statement of the complainant is scheduled for tomorrow, who in the courtroom will be separated from the accused by a screen to prevent them from having visual contact. Also as a measure to protect the victim, the court has ordered that her testimony be held behind closed doors. The judicial recording of her statement, which will be recorded as evidence, will be pixelated and with her voice distorted to prevent her from being recognized if the video is later leaked.

Alves

' interrogation

is provisionally scheduled for today, at the expense of his defense being able to request a transfer to the end of the trial. A common request so that the accused can testify answering all the evidence presented. The case is scheduled to be heard for sentencing on Wednesday.

"A situation of anguish and terror"

The case dates back to the night of Friday, December 30, 2022. Alves was on vacation in Barcelona before rejoining the Mexican Pumas after having played in the World Cup. After 2:30 in the morning, he went to the nightclub's booth with a friend and occupied table 6, the only one that gives exclusive access to the so-called Suite, an area with a small toilet, a living room with a sofa, a television and a refrigerator. There, in the booth, they would have met the young woman and two other girls. After inviting them to drink for an hour, the former full-back of the Brazilian team would have insisted that the young woman enter the exclusive area where the small toilet was, which she did not know about. In that bathroom, according to the

Prosecutor's Office

,

Alves

would have shown a "violent attitude" towards the woman, whom he attacked and forced to have sexual relations, despite her resistance. "He penetrated her vaginally until he ejaculated, without using a condom and without her consent," says the Public Ministry. "The victim repeatedly requested that he let her go, that she wanted to get out of there, and the defendant did not allow it," indicates the document, which states that He lived a "situation of anguish and terror."

The young woman received medical attention that same night at the

Hospital Clínic

and ended up reporting the events on January 2. She currently suffers from "post-traumatic stress disorder of globally high intensity" for which she is undergoing treatment, says the Public Ministry.

The mother's controversy

A disorder also aggravated by the dissemination of his identity, with names and surnames in a video that Alves' own mother published on social networks a month ago. The victim denounced and demanded that the trial be held behind closed doors. Finally, only her statement will be, although her name may not be mentioned nor images taken of her or her companions.