Dani Alves is counting the hours until tomorrow. The Barcelona Court of Appeal will announce today to the parties whether the Brazilian defender can leave prison, where he is serving a month today for an alleged sexual assault.
He is a prison called Brians 2. The footballer is confident that he will be granted the four-month measures proposed in the appeal lodged against his remand in custody.
The defender, who has changed his version of events several times, is accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman in a bathroom of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on December 30.
The judge, once she had taken statements from the parties, ordered Alves to be remanded in custody without bail, among other reasons, because of his high risk of absconding due to his high economic capacity and because Spain does not have an extradition treaty with Brazil.
Alves’ lawyer, Cristobal Martell, lodged an appeal a few days ago with the Barcelona Court of Appeal in the hope that it would be accepted and that the footballer would be able to leave prison and defend his innocence from outside the bars.
The defender maintains that the relations were consensual. In the event that the player leaves Brians 2 on Tuesday, the accusation would be maintained and he would have to accept some precautionary measures, such as paying bail, the withdrawal of his passport, the use of a telematic bracelet or appearing in court every few days.
He would also not be able to maintain any kind of contact with the victim.
The two parties presented their arguments on the release at last Thursday’s hearing, and the court has taken a few days to analyse them.
Both the prosecution and the private prosecution representing the victim have also stated that they are opposed to Alves’ release from prison because, among other reasons, they maintain that the same conditions remain in place as when the judge ordered his provisional detention without bail.
The Brazilian, who has been visited by some of his family members, maintains that he is innocent and that the relations were consensual.
