A court on Monday announced that former Brazil international football player Dani Alves, who was found guilty of rape in Spain, had paid his one million euro bail and was free to leave jail while he filed an appeal.
Alves, 40, one of the most accomplished football players in the world, was given a four-and-a-half year prison sentence last month for raping a young woman in the VIP restroom of a Barcelona nightclub early on December 31, 2022.
His request for provisional release while his appeal is pending was unexpectedly granted by a Barcelona court last Wednesday, provided he posted a million euro ($1.08 million) bail, turned in his Spanish and Brazilian passports, stayed in the nation, and appeared in court “on a weekly basis.”
He didn’t show the money until Monday, which meant he stayed in jail while his group attempted to raise the cash.
The court released a statement saying, “We hereby inform you that the deposit of Daniel Alves’ bail has been registered in the accounts of the 21st section of the Barcelona Court.”
TV teams gathered outside Alves’s detention facility, the Brians 2 prison, northwest of Barcelona, to record his anticipated release in the next several hours.
Since his arrest in January 2023, Alves has been detained on the suspicion of posing a flight risk. Brazilian nationals serving sentences abroad are not extradited.
Ester Garcia, the victim’s attorney, and public prosecutors have appealed the decision to set Alves free on bond.
Garcia told reporters last week that “this sends the message that there is justice for the rich, and even if there is a conviction if you pay bail there are no criminal consequences.”
She continued, claiming that her client was “very outraged, very despondent, and very frustrated,” and that “this is a very dangerous message for society.”
Prosecutors added that the victim, who testified during the trial behind a screen to conceal her identity, claimed that Alves had physically forced her to have sex in the nightclub’s private toilet in spite of her pleas for him to stop, leaving her feeling “anguished and terrified.”
The victim had been “glued” to the player during their dance at the nightclub, according to Alves’ attorneys, who claimed there was “sexual tension” between them.
Nevertheless, the court stated in its 61-page ruling that this did not imply “that she consented to anything that might have subsequently happened.”
