Convicted of Rape, Dani Alves Requests Provisional Release

Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, sentenced last month to four and a half years in prison for rape, requested his temporary release from a Barcelona court on Tuesday as he awaits the verdict of his appeal against the conviction. During a brief closed-session, the prosecutor disagreed with the request, claiming a high risk of him fleeing the country.

Alves’ lawyer, Inés Guardiola, argued that Alves, who has been in prison since January 2023, has already served a quarter of his handed sentence decided in February and assures he won’t attempt to escape, as judicial sources reported. The defense also suggested a payment of 50,000 euros as bail, or to surrender the player’s two passports.

Alves, attending the session via video call from the Barcelona prison where he’s confined, promised the judges he wouldn’t flee if given provisional liberty. He additionally voiced his faith in the justice system, judicial sources reported. The court’s decision could be made public soon.

However, the appeals filed by both the prosecutor and Alves concerning the sentence itself will be heard later by a different court. On 22nd February, the 40-year-old former player was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and ordered to pay his victim 150,000 euros, for raping a young woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022.

The court also imposed a five year probation period on the former player of FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain following his release from prison, and a restraining order preventing him from approaching his victim for a period of nine and a half years.