THE STAR
Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves went on trial Monday, a year after he was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at a Barcelona nightclub.
The 40-year-old Alves, a former Barcelona player, has been in pre-trial custody for over a year since he was detained for allegedly sexually assaulting the woman on the night of Dec. 31, 2022. He denies any wrongdoing.
Dressed in a white dress shirt and jeans, Alves took a seat in the courtroom after arriving in a police van. His mother was also present at the Barcelona courthouse. After a short recess when the courtroom was emptied, Alves’ mother blew her son a kiss and made a heart-shaped gesture as Alves was escorted in handcuffs back inside.
State prosecutors are seeking a nine-year prison sentence for Alves if convicted while the lawyers representing his accuser want 12 years.
The court ordered the accuser’s testimony on Monday be behind closed doors with no media access and no image of her can be taken to protect her identity. That decision came after a video circulated on social media last month that allegedly identified the woman.
A screen was placed between the accuser and Alves when she testified and the court ordered the video recording of her testimony be pixelated and her voice distorted as preventative measures to ensure her privacy in case of a leak.
In testimony given to state prosecutors last year, the woman said she met Alves late at the Sutton nightclub in one of Barcelona’s upscale neighborhoods after midnight. She accompanied him into a VIP area and into a private bathroom where he allegedly slapped her, used insulting language and raped her, according to her testimony given to prosecutors.
Two women, a friend and a cousin, who accompanied the woman to the nightclub testified that when they saw her after she exited the bathroom she was distraught and told them that Alves had “hurt her badly.” Workers at the nightclub also gave testimony.
Alves will testify on Wednesday, the trial’s last day.
Before he was indicted by an investigative judge in August, Alves’ lawyers unsuccessfully tried to discredit testimony by his accuser and other witnesses by presenting security camera footage from the nightclub. The court has said that any alleged flirting should not “in any way justify an eventual sexual assault.”
Alves has modified his defense several times.
At first, he denied having ever seen the woman when he went dancing on the night in question.
Upon his arrest, he denied any sexual contact with her, only to admit three months later to a sexual encounter that he said was consented to by the woman. He said he had been trying to save his marriage by not admitting to the sexual encounter initially.
In the only interview Alves has given since his arrest, he told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia in June that “my conscience is clear about what happened that early morning. … What happened and what did not happen. And what did not happen is that I forced that woman to do what we did.”
Alves, whose legal name is Daniel Alves, has changed attorneys three times. At the trial he is represented by Inés Guardiola, who was hired in October.
