Brazilian soccer player
Dani Alves , convicted of rape in Spain, posted the
$1.1 million
bail
requested by a court and will be able to leave prison on provisional release, the court reported this Monday.
The
Barcelona Court
had granted the favorable measure to the athlete last Wednesday, but until this Monday he had not been able to deposit the money demanded by the court to set him free while the appeals against his sentence are resolved.
"We inform you that the account of section 21 of the Barcelona Court includes the deposit of Daniel Alves' bail
," the court indicated in a brief statement.
Alves will now be able to leave the Brians 2 prison, located about 40 kilometers from Barcelona, where
he has been held since the end of January 2023
.
The 40-year-old footballer, with a successful career in teams such as Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain,
was sentenced in February by that court to four and a half years in prison for having raped a woman
in the bathrooms of a nightclub in that area. Spanish city at the end of 2022.
The court also imposed
an additional five years of probation
, a restraining order from the victim for nine and a half years, and payment of compensation of approximately $163,000.
The sentence was appealed by both Alves's defense, which during the trial requested his acquittal, and by the Prosecutor's Office, which wants to stiffen the sentence received by the player.
These appeals can take months to resolve.
The Barcelona Court granted provisional release on Wednesday
, a day after a hearing in which the Brazilian's defense requested this measure, alleging that his client had already served a quarter of the sentence received.
This circumstance would enable him, in the event of a final sentence, to begin to have prison benefits.
At the end of the brief hearing, Alves, who appeared from prison via videoconference,
assured the court that he would not flee and that he believes in justice
.
These arguments did not convince either the Public Prosecutor's Office or the private prosecution, who continued to oppose the former Brazilian international leaving prison, since they continued to consider the risk of escape to be high.
But the court, which had supported this reason to reject Alves' demands to be released during the investigation, now considered that "the passage of time" is a "mitigating factor" of previous criteria, and noted that the risk of flight " has slowed down."
Despite his successful career in elite football where he holds the record for the number of trophies won alongside Lionel Messi, Alves took days to raise the million euros of his bail.
Neymar's father, who helped him financially after his arrest, denied helping him now that he is already convicted
.
According to his defense, the footballer's financial situation was greatly affected by his arrest in January 2023, which implied, among others, the suspension of his contract with Pumas de México and he is still waiting to earn large amounts after several litigations. with the Spanish Treasury.
The magistrates recognized that Alves' true financial situation "is not known," but that it can be presumed that he still has a "comfortable financial solvency."
In addition to the bail, the court also imposed other measures on him to be released provisionally until there is a final ruling,
such as the withdrawal of his two passports
, the obligation to appear weekly at the Court, not leave Spain or the prohibition of approaching the victim.
Source: AFP