The trial against former FC Barcelona footballer Dani Alves for allegedly raping a 23-year-old girl at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona will be able to continue with lights and stenographers, although with important limitations to protect the victim.
The Barcelona Court has decided that the trial be held in public and has therefore rejected the request of the Prosecutor's Office and the young woman's lawyer for it to be held behind closed doors.
With one exception: the magistrates have agreed, as is usual in cases of sexual assault, that the victim's statement be held behind closed doors to protect her identity and prevent her from being “doubly victimized.”
The resolution admits that the
Alves case
has “an obvious media impact that arouses the interest of the media and the public”, the main reason why it has rejected the request of the parties, which the exlateral's lawyer had not opposed either. Brazilian.
This “information resonance”, however, “can have serious consequences in the sphere of privacy of the complainant, who could be doubly victimized”, add the magistrates of Section 21 of the Barcelona Court, which as of next Monday On February 5, they will hold, in three sessions, the trial in which Alves faces a request from the Prosecutor's Office for nine years in prison.
As usual, the woman will testify behind closed doors and protected behind a screen to avoid “visual confrontation” with the alleged aggressor.
With that premise (protecting the victim), the judges have agreed on a series of measures that limit the trial more than in other procedures.
The media, they warn, will not be able to “record the sound or image of the trial” nor take images of the complainant or “her close relatives of her who may testify at the trial.”
The magistrates also order the parties (Prosecutor's Office, lawyers) and witnesses and experts to refer only to the victim as "complainant", without mentioning her name or surname.
Even though they are held behind closed doors, the court always records the trials to be able to examine in detail, before the sentencing, all the statements, including that of the victim.
To protect it in the event of a subsequent “leak,” they have also agreed that this recording be “with a distorted voice and a pixelated image.”
A few weeks ago, Alves' mother and other people around the player released a video montage that tried to discredit the victim.
In the images her full name appeared along with some images of her in which she is seen with friends in a party context.
When she filed the complaint, the same night that the events occurred (December 31, 2022), the young woman had expressed her fear that her personal data would be disseminated, something that has finally happened.
The Court of Instruction 21 of Barcelona maintains an investigation open to clarify the facts.
The trial starts this Monday and is expected to last three sessions, although it is possible that it will not end up being held.
The parties (Prosecutor's Office, private prosecution and defense) have not stopped exploring the possibility of an agreement in recent months.
If the pact is closed, Alves would have to admit the facts in exchange for achieving a substantial reduction in the sentence that would allow him to leave prison, sooner rather than later.
The former Barça footballer has remained in provisional prison since January 20, 2023, when he clearly contradicted himself before the judge, who sent him to jail.
Despite the efforts made, his defense has not been able to reverse this situation since then, which is why Alves arrives at the trial as a preventive prisoner.