Former Brazil worldwide Dani Alves, convicted of rape, left a jail close to Barcelona on Monday after posting the 1-million-euro ($1.09-billion) bail set by a court docket for his launch pending enchantment.
The 40-year-old had been in jail since his arrest in January 2023 on suspicion of raping a younger lady within the VIP lavatory of a Barcelona nightclub within the early hours of Dec. 31, 2022.
Alves, carrying denims, a white polo neck, and a black jacket, appeared expressionless as he walked out of the Brians 2 jail in San Esteban Sasroviras close to Barcelona along with his lawyer, in keeping with Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondents on the scene.
He left with out talking to the gathered reporters, getting right into a white automotive shortly after depositing the sum decided by the court docket 5 days earlier.
The former Barcelona participant, one of many world’s most embellished footballers, was convicted final month and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, along with his legal professionals swiftly shifting to file an enchantment.
But in a shock transfer, the court docket agreed final Wednesday to conditionally launch him in trade for posting a 1-million-euro bail, handing over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, staying in Spain, and presenting himself to court docket each week.
Alves had tried to make bail a number of occasions since his arrest, however his requests have been turned down on the premise he was a flight danger since Brazil doesn’t extradite residents sentenced in different nations.
Alves’ legal professionals are searching for his acquittal, and the enchantment course of might take months to finish.
Prosecutors, nonetheless, need his jail sentence doubled to 9 years.
They and the sufferer’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, have appealed the choice to grant Alves bail.
“This sends the message that this is justice for the rich, and even if there is a conviction, if you pay bail there are no criminal consequences,” she instructed reporters final week.
“It’s a very dangerous message for society,” she added, saying her shopper was “totally outraged, very despondent, and very frustrated.”
Lula slams bail deal
The court docket’s resolution to free Alves was additionally robustly criticized by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“We cannot stay silent in the face of this injustice,” he stated on Thursday, stressing that cash “cannot undo the crime that a man commits by raping a woman.”
“When sex is something between two people, it has to be agreed to by both of them,” and if not, that constitutes “a crime,” he stated.
During the trial, the sufferer, who testified behind a display screen to guard her identification, stated Alves had violently pressured her to have intercourse regardless of begging him to let her go, inflicting her “anguish and terror,” in keeping with prosecutors current for her declaration.
Alves’ legal professionals had argued the sufferer had been “glued” to the participant whereas dancing on the nightclub, saying there was “sexual tension” between them.
But in its 61-page resolution, the court docket stated that didn’t imply “that she consented to anything that might have subsequently happened.”
Spain’s leftist authorities handed a brand new regulation in 2022 that strengthens the nation’s penal code in opposition to rape by requiring specific consent for intercourse acts, a transfer lengthy demanded by assault survivors and ladies’s rights teams.
Alves is broadly thought of one of many best defenders of all time, having gained 42 trophies.
The peak of his profession was with Barcelona between 2008 and 2016, alongside Lionel Messi, when he gained 23 trophies.
At the time of his arrest, he was contracted to Mexican membership Pumas UNAM. He was sacked quickly after being detained.
Source: www.dailysabah.com