Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Footballer Dani Alves to testify as his rape trial in Spain wraps up

The rape trial of ex-Brazil international Dani Alves ends Wednesday with the footballer due to tell the court his version of events involving a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub.

Published: 7 February 2024 14:09 CET
Footballer Dani Alves to testify as his rape trial in Spain wraps up
Brazilian footballer Dani Alves looks on at the start of his trial at the High Court of Justice of Catalonia in Barcelona, on February 5, 2024.(Photo by Jordi BORRAS / POOL / AFP)

The third and final day of the trial will begin at 1400 GMT, with the 40-year-old Brazilian to take the stand last after testimony from several experts.

The trial opened on Monday with the victim testifying for over an hour from behind a screen to avoid her being identified.

One of the world’s most decorated footballers who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain during a storied career, Alves is accused of raping the woman in the bathroom of the VIP section of the Sutton nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022.

The defender was arrested three weeks later and has been detained ever since. He denies all the charges.

Some 20 witnesses took the stand on Tuesday, with the Brazilian friend who was with him on the night in question saying Alves had drunk a lot of alcohol before entering the nightclub.

Various police officers told the court about the victim’s state of agitation and “shock” when they arrived at the nightclub, as well as her anxiety that “nobody would believe her” if she filed a complaint.

On Monday, a friend and a cousin, who were with the victim at the nightclub, had also testified about her anguished state after fleeing the bathroom.

Alves was present in court on both days, appearing in court handcuffed to a police officer and sitting silently in the front row.

Prosecutors say Alves and his friend bought champagne for the three young women, then he asked the victim to go with him to another area where there was a bathroom which she was unaware of.

Once inside, he became violent and forced her to have sex, despite the fact she “repeatedly asked him to let her go” causing her “anguish and terror”, according to prosecutors.

The friend who was with her broke down in tears on Tuesday as she told the court how the victim was “crying uncontrollably” after leaving the bathroom, saying Alves had “really hurt” her.

The footballer, who is accused of “sexual assault with penetration”, has insisted what happened between them was consensual.

Prosecutors are calling for a nine-year jail sentence followed by 10 years of probation and also want him to pay 150,000 euros ($162,000) in compensation.

Alves’s 31-year-old wife Joana Sanz told the court on Tuesday he appeared very drunk when he got back to their Barcelona home that night and she had not wanted to talk to him because of “the state he was in”.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

‘Pedro stay!’: Thousands of Spanish PM’s supporters take to the streets

Thousands of supporters of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez rallied at the headquarters of his Socialist party imploring him not to step down over a graft investigation against his wife.

Published: 27 April 2024 15:50 CEST
'Pedro stay!': Thousands of Spanish PM's supporters take to the streets

The 52-year-old, who has been in office since 2018, stunned Spain on Wednesday when he put his resignation on the line after a Madrid court opened a preliminary investigation into suspected influence peddling and corruption against his spouse Begona Gomez.

Sanchez said he would suspend all public duties until he announces his decision on Monday. The normally hyperactive premier has since remained out of sight and silent.

“I need to stop and think whether I should continue to head the government or whether I should give up this honour,” he wrote in a four-page letter posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Supporters on Saturday held up placards saying “Spain needs you”, “Pedro don’t abandon us’, and shouted slogans such as “Pedro leader”.

“I hope that Sanchez will say on Monday that he will stay,” said Sara Domínguez, a consultant in her 30’s, adding that his government had “taken good steps for women, the LGBT community and minorities”.

Jose María Diez, a 44-year-old government official who came from Valladolid in northern Spain to express his support, said there was a real possibility that the far-right could take power if Sanchez quit.

“This will mean a step backwards for our rights and liberties,” he warned.

Inside the party headquarters, there were similar passionate appeals.

‘Pedro stay’

“Pedro stay. We are together and together we can … take the country forward, Spain can’t step back,” said Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero, the government number two.

“Today all democrats, all progressives, are summoned to Madrid against a pack whose only aim is to overthrow a democratic and legitimate government,” said Felix Bolanos, Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations.

At one point, Socialist leaders took to the streets to thank those gathered. “They won’t succeed,” government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria told the crowd.

The court opened the investigation into Sanchez’s wife in response to a complaint from anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader is linked to the far right.

The group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, said on Wednesday its complaint was based on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

While the court did not give details of the case, online news site El Confidencial said it focused on links Gomez had to Spanish tourism group Globalia when carrier Air Europa was in talks with the government to secure a huge bailout.

The airline sought the bailout after it was badly hit by plunging paseenger numbers during the Covid-19 crisis.

At the time, Gomez was running IE Africa Centre, a foundation linked to Madrid’s Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school, which had signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020.

Spain’s public prosecutors office on Thursday requested the dismissal of the investigation, which Sanchez said was part of a campaign of “harassment” against him and his wife waged by “media heavily influenced by the right and far right”.

If Sanchez decides to remain in office, he could choose to file a confidence motion in parliament to show that he and his minority government are still supported by a majority of lawmakers.

If he resigns, an early election could be called from July — a year after the last one — with or without Sanchez at the helm of the Socialist party.

The right-wing opposition has accused the prime minister of being irresponsible for putting the country on hold while he mulls his decision.

“It’s very clear to us that this is all a tactic… We know Pedro Sanchez and things with him always turn out like a soap opera,” Cuca Gamarra, the number two of the main opposition conservative Popular Party, said on Friday.

“He is making us all wait and the country is at a standstill,” she added.

SHOW COMMENTS