BARCELONA, Spain: Former Brazil international Dani Alves will be freed pending an appeal against a rape conviction in a one-million-euro bail deal which the victim’s lawyer has condemned as “justice for the rich”.
Wednesday’s decision came after his lawyer called for the 40-year-old to be released because he has already served a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence in pre-trial detention after his arrest 14 months ago.
In its ruling, the Barcelona court granted him “provisional release” in exchange for “the bail payment of 1,000,000 euros” ($1.08 million). The court also ordered him to hand over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, remain in Spain and present himself to court on a weekly basis.
But the lawyer of the young woman who was raped by Alves at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022 responded the ruling with displeasure.
Criticizing the court ruling as “justice for the rich”, she pledged to appeal on grounds it was “not in line with the law”.
“This is a very dangerous message for society,” she said further and added her client was “very outraged, very despondent and very frustrated”.
Alves, one of the world’s most decorated footballers who played for Barcelona and Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, was accused last month of raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Sutton nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022. His lawyer immediately appealed.
The court’s decision on Wednesday also bars him from “coming within 1,000 metres (yards) of the plaintiff, her home, her workplace and whatever other place that she is, as well as making any attempt to communicate with her”.
Since his arrest in January 2023, Alves’ legal team has repeatedly called for his release on bail but the court every time rejected his request on grounds he was a flight risk.
