Dani Alves granted €1m bail after sexual assault conviction

Former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves has been released on bail worth one million euros ($1.1 million) on appeal, a court in Barcelona, ​​Spain, announced on Wednesday.

Alves, 40, was convicted of sexual assault last month and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison, of which he had already served more than a year.

His lawyer, Inés Guardiola, challenged the decision and, following a hearing on Tuesday, Alves was released pending a final resolution of the appeal.

Alves' release also depends on him handing over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, remaining in Spain and agreeing to appear in court every week.

He must also comply with a restraining order which prevents him from coming within 1,000 meters of his victim, her home, her place of work or any other place she is known to frequent .

All parties involved – the defense, the victim's legal team and the prosecution – have three days to appeal Wednesday's decision.

Ester García, the victim's lawyer, expressed her disappointment with the decision to Spanish media outlet RAC1 after leaving the court.

“I’m really unhappy with this decision,” she said. “We are going to appeal because we believe this is not in accordance with the law.

“Justice is being served to the rich. It is scandalous that they release someone because they can get 1 million euros in no time.”

On Tuesday, Guardiola argued there was no risk Alves would flee the country or destroy evidence, while the former Barcelona player appeared via video link and insisted he did not represent not a flight risk and that he was ready to surrender his passports.

The prosecution, meanwhile, requested a nine-year sentence, complaining that February's four-and-a-half-year sentence was not sufficient punishment for the crime committed.

Alves was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 following a 13-month investigation – during which Alves remained in pre-trial prison – and a trial of three days last month.

During the trial, testimonies from the victim's friend and cousin, Alves' friend with whom he was on the night of the crime, the police officers who treated the woman and a forensic psychologist who examined it were heard.

Police said the victim was very shaken and told them she had been sexually assaulted by Alves, while the psychologist said she was suffering from post-traumatic symptoms, a finding disputed by an external expert called by the defense.

During this time, Alves always maintained his innocence but changed his story five times, eventually saying he had sex with the victim but lied to hide his infidelity to his wife. He then added that he was drunk.

The Alves case was the first high-profile sex crime since Spain revised its legislation in 2022 to put consent at the heart of the definition of a sex crime in response to a wave of protests following a rape case collective during the San Fermin bullfight in Pamplona. in 2016.

The legislation, commonly known as the “only yes means yes” law, defines consent as the explicit expression of a person's will, making clear that silence or passivity does not amount to consent.

However, the law initially led to sentence reductions for hundreds of sex offenders because it set lower minimum sentences, like that applied to Alves, before the law was reformed.

In a career that spanned more than 20 years, Alves won major titles with clubs like Barca, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. He also won the Copa América twice with Brazil and an Olympic gold medal at the age of 38.

He played in his third World Cup, the only major title he did not win, in 2022.

He played for Barca from 2008 to 2016 and briefly rejoined the club for a second stint in 2022 before moving to Mexico with the Pumas.

Alves' contract with the Mexican club was terminated immediately after his arrest.