The request for the release of football player Dani Alves was rejected a second time by the judge investigating the alleged rape of a woman. "The investigating court of the fifteenth district of Barcelona has rejected the request for release requested by the defense," announced the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, which means that the player aged 40 since Saturday will remain in prison.
Alves' lawyers, in detention since January 20, 2023, had requested the release of their client on April 20, while the Brazilian had reiterated a few days earlier during a hearing at his own request that he had consensual sexual relations with the complainant.
The "risk of flight is unthinkable"
Alves, who this time provided video evidence to confront the two versions, had already been denied a first request for release pending trial. The court had highlighted "the high risk of absconding" of Dani Alves "related to the high sentence that can be imposed on him in this case", the "severe indications" incriminating him and his "enormous financial means that could allow him to leave Spain at any time".
The Brazilian's lawyers believe that the "risk of flight is unthinkable" and have proposed the possibility of bail as well as the withdrawal of his two passports (Spanish and Brazilian) to reassure the judge. But the magistrate rejected on Tuesday this request for release as well as all intermediate measures (bail, withdrawal of passport, electronic bracelet) to keep the player in prison.
Accused of rape, Dani Alves fights back in a video
➡️ https://t.co/7A5YPOgSv8 pic.twitter.com/M9wsnmmGPO
— Le Parisien | sport (@leparisiensport) February 1, 2023
Dani Alves, then under contract with the Mexican club Pumas, is accused by a young woman of raping her at the end of December in the toilets of a trendy nightclub in Barcelona. He has been incarcerated since January 20 in the prison complex of Brians, located about forty kilometers from Barcelona.