Dani Alves’ accuser repeats rape allegation on first day of trial

The 23-year-old woman who accuses Dani Alves of sexual assault ratified on Monday before the court that the footballer raped her in a bathroom of a nightclub in Barcelona and that she feared not being believed if she made a report.

The trial against the Brazilian soccer star began Monday in the 21st section of the Barcelona court and is scheduled to last until Wednesday. Alves is accused of raping a woman in the tiny bathroom of a private room of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona in December 2022, and the prosecution is seeking nine years in prison while the victim’s private prosecution is pushing for twelve.

The defense of the former Barcelona FC player seeks his acquittal on the grounds that the sex was consensual, but cites drunkenness and the fact that he has already paid 150,000 euros in compensation as mitigating factors.

The defense tried in vain to prevent the hearing from taking place, arguing before the court that the defendant’s rights had been violated by a “parallel trial” in the media and social networks, where his presumption of innocence had been compromised, and by the fact that the police had been investigating him “behind his back” for weeks.