Spanish prosecutors appeal decision to give Dani Alves bail after rape conviction
Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves sits during his trial in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. A Spanish court has decided to release Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves if he pays a bail of one million euros and hands over his passports while awaiting the appeal of his conviction for raping a woman in Barcelona. Credit: AP/D.Zorrakino
BARCELONA, Spain — Spain's state prosecutors' office in Barcelona asked a court on Friday to reconsider its decision to grant Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves the opportunity to leave prison on bail while awaiting the appeal of his conviction for rape.
The request by prosecutors came two days after the Provincial Court in Barcelona decided Alves could leave prison if he pays a bail of one million euros ($1.1 million) and hands over his passports.
Alves has yet to meet those requirements and remains in the Brians II prison 45 minutes from Barcelona where he was been for the past 14 months. He was found guilty of raping a woman in a nightclub in December 2022 and sentenced to four years, six months in prison. He denied wrongdoing during the three-day trial in February.
His requests to be released on bail before the trial were denied because the court deemed him a flight risk.
On Wednesday, the judges were split 2-1 on the decision to grant him the chance to go free on bail. The judges in favor of granting Alves bail said they believed the flight risk had lowered.
Another factor cited by the two judges was that according to Spanish law a person cannot be kept in preventative detention for more than half the period of his or her prison sentence while awaiting an appeal. In Alves’ case that leaves him just over a year before he would reach the midway mark of two years, three months, while the appeals could easily take longer.
Prosecutors said on Friday they believed the risk of Alves fleeing increased now that he has been found guilty and faces an appeal process that could conclude with his prison sentence being increased. They also reminded the court that Brazil does not extradite its citizens when they are sentenced in other countries.
The prosecutors said they believed the court should keep Alves in preventative prison while awaiting his appeal for the maximum length his sentence would allow: Two years, three months.
Once his appeals are exhausted, and if his conviction is maintained, then depending on the final sentence the 40-year-old Alves could go back to prison if he goes free on bail.
There is no date yet for the new trial at a higher court in Barcelona. After that, it can then go to the Supreme Court in Madrid. His defense is seeking his acquittal while the prosecutor wants his prison sentence increased to nine years. The victim’s lawyer wants him put away for 12 years.
