Dani Alves, a former Brazil international footballer convicted of rape in Spain, has paid his one-million-euro bail and will be released from jail pending his appeal, a court announced Monday.
Alves, 40, one of the world’s most decorated footballers, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison last month for raping a young woman in the VIP toilet of a Barcelona nightclub early on December 31, 2022.
In a surprise move, a Barcelona court agreed last Wednesday to his request for provisional release while his appeal is heard on the condition that he post a million euros ($1.08 million) in bail, surrender his Spanish and Brazilian passports, remain in the country, and appear in court “on a weekly basis”.
He remained in jail till Monday while his crew raised funding for his presentation.
“We hereby inform you that the deposit of Daniel Alves’ bail has been registered in the accounts of the 21st section of the Barcelona Court,” according to a statement issued by the court.
TV teams gathered outside the Brians 2 jail, northwest of Barcelona, where Alves is being kept, to catch the moment of his release, which is likely within the next few hours.
Alves had been in jail since his arrest in January 2023. He applied for bail numerous times prior to his conviction, but it was denied, in part because he was a flight risk, as Brazil does not extradite persons sentenced in other countries.
The appeal process could take months to complete.
Public prosecutors and the victim’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, have appealed the decision to grant Alves bail.
“This sends the message that there is justice for the rich, and even if there is a conviction if you pay bail there are no criminal consequences,” Garcia told reporters last week.
“This is a very dangerous message for society,” she added, saying her client was “very outraged, very despondent and very frustrated”.
‘Anguish and terror’
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the court’s decision to grant bail, saying money “cannot buy the offense that a man does to a woman by committing ra-pe”.
“When s=ex takes place between two people, it must be allowed and consented to by both. “This, in fact, is a crime,” he said.
During the trial, the victim, who testified behind a screen to hide her identity, claimed that Alves physically pushed her to have sex in the nightclub’s private toilet despite her pleas to leave, causing her “anguish and terror,” according to prosecutors.
Alves’ lawyers claimed the victim was “glued” to the player while dancing at the nightclub, citing “sexual tension” between the two.
However, the court stated in its 61-page conclusion that this did not imply “that she consented to anything that might have subsequently happened”.
In 2022, Spain’s leftist government passed new legislation known as the “only yes means yes” bill, which enhances the country’s penal code against rape by demanding explicit agreement for sex acts, a move long sought by attack survivors and women’s rights organizations.
Alves is widely regarded as one of the best defenders of all time, having won 42 trophies.
His career peaked with Barcelona from 2008 to 2016, when he won 23 championships. He was under contract with the Mexican team Pumas UNAM at the time of his arrest. He was dismissed shortly after being imprisoned.