Dani Alves, before his last chance to get out of prison before his trial for sexual assault

The court in Barcelona convened this Thursday a the hearing on the preventive detention of Dani Alves, accused of raping a 23-year-old girl in the toilet of a nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30, according to legal sources reported by Efe.

The Brazilian player’s defense appealed to a court in Barcelona in May against the investigating judge’s decision to keep Alves in pre-trial detention after he was jailed in Brians 2 prison on January 20.

The footballer’s lawyers, Cristóbal Martell and Arnau Xumetra, have asked for his provisional release, arguing in this new appeal that it is “inconceivable” that he would try to escape, given that he has a “life project” in Barcelona and has already sent his children to school in the center of the Catalan capital.

For the lawyers, the “escape adventure” of Dani Alves is unthinkable because the escape would mean “an unbearable burden for the subject and unnecessary disrespect to himself and his family and children” which the player “does not want to cause”. This way, Alves’ defense claims the flight risk is “non-existent”.

In addition to denying flight risk, the bulk of the footballer’s appeal is aimed at questioning the victim’s version in light of images captured by the Sutton nightclub’s security cameras moments before Alves and the prosecutor entered the bathroom where the alleged rape took place. The defense, which submitted a report on the analysis of the images to the court, claims that this document is of “unquestionable” usefulness.

The third department of the court in Barcelona will hold a hearing on the preventive detention of Dani Alves this Friday at 11:00 after an appeal by his defense in which they request his release, which is opposed by the prosecution and the private lawsuit representing the young woman. The visit will be behind closed doors and without the football player’s physical or virtual presence, so only the PU and legal teams of the parties will participate in it.

On April 17, Dani Alves appeared for the fourth time, at his own request. The former Barcelona and Sevilla footballer admitted that he had sexual relations with the complainant, but confirmed that they had consented in the leaked statements.

About the sexual relations they had in the bathroom, the Brazilian said: “I asked him twice if he liked it and he said yes.” However, Dani Alves believes that the complainant could have gotten angry with him when he told her before leaving the bathroom that he had to wait until they were seen together.

Dani Alves also explained why private security cameras showed him later walking past the complainant without flinching. “If I had seen her at the exit, I would have stopped her to ask her what happened to her, because until then everything was fine, within the framework of what we wanted. I was simply an accomplice to the desire she had or those I had,” the football player justified himself.