Walter Finch
EX-BARCA star Dani Alves is to remain in jail on sexual assault charges after a judge rejected his latest appeal today.
Alves stands accused of sexually assaulting a young woman at Barcelona’s Sutton nightclub on December 30.
Alves’ defence team had filed an appeal with the Barcelona Court of Appeals last month contesting the court’s decision not to release the Brazilian star on bail.
The defence argued that Alves’ ex-wife, Dinora Santana, and their two children had registered as residents in Barcelona, demonstrating family ties and refuting the risk of flight.
But the court in Barcelona was unmoved by these arguments and confirmed he would remain behind bars.
It said that none of the movements put forward by the defence, including a new statement, the analysis of the security cameras and the registration of his children would earn his release.
As it turned out, the evidence compiled by the Catalan Mossos d’Esquadra, especially the traces found in the toilets in the VIP area, ‘not only do not distort, but rather confirm’ the victim’s story.
No date for the trial has yet been set, meaning the footballer will languish in jail indefinitely.
It is the second time that Alves’ appeal to be released on bail has been rejected, upholding a previous decision in April.
On that occasion, the 39-year-old admitted for the first time that he did have penetrative sex with the alleged victim that night.
He claimed that he had denied that before in an attempt to hide his infidelity from his current wife, Joana Sanz.
He also insisted that the sexual relations with the 23-year-old woman at the centre of the case had been consensual
According to the alleged victim, on that night she and her companions were invited into the VIP section of the well-known nightclub Sutton.
According to her version, which a judge considered to be ‘robust’ and ‘persistent’, she did not know who Alves was.
She claimed in court that he forced her hand onto his penis and took her into a nearby bathroom, where he grabbed her head and forced her to perform oral sex before violently forcing himself inside her and ejaculating.
Since the rape accusations were made against Alves, he has offered four different versions of his side of the story, including recording a video in which he claimed to have no idea who the alleged victim was.
READ MORE:
- Ex-Barcelona star Dani Alves remains behind bars before rape trial in Spain
- Dani Alves rape allegation prompts Balearic bars and clubs to bring in protocol to protect women on a night out
- Security camera footage contradicts Dani Alves’s version of events over rape accusations
