The former Brazil international and Barça footballer Dani Alves was released from prison on Monday after paying €1 million in bail to be set free while appealing a rape conviction. ALSO READ: Dani Alves sentenced to 4.5 years, after being found guilty of rape.
Alves also handed over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, with prosecutors having argued against releasing him on bail because of a possible flight risk. The footballer will have to appear in court every week and is ordered to stay one kilometre away from the victim’s home and work, and not to contact her by any means.
His lawyer had requested the 40-year-old’s release on the grounds he had already served a quarter of his sentence in pre-trial detention following his arrest in January 2023.
One of the world’s most decorated footballers who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, Alves was sentenced on 22 February to four years, six months in prison after being convicted of raping the young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022. He denied wrongdoing during the three-day trial. His lawyers swiftly appealed the conviction.
Alves, who left the courthouse wearing jeans and a black jacket over a white shirt, had spent the last 14 months in the Brians II prison located 45 minutes from Barcelona, since he was detained preventively by authorities investigating the rape accusation against him.
Although the bail was announced last week, Alves failed to post the money by Friday and remained behind bars over the weekend.
There had been speculation that the father of footballer Neymar Jr would help Alves post bail, but he announced on Thursday that he would not. On Monday at noon, Alves managed to raise the funds and made the payment to the court. He walked out of prison at 4.30pm on Monday along with his lawyer.
Alves’ release coincided with a protest outside Brians II by prison officers who have been demanding better conditions in jails in Catalonia following the killing of a prison cook by an inmate at another jail. ALSO READ: Prison staff continue protests in Catalonia after colleague killed.
🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA | Dani Alves sale de la cárcel: así ha abandonado las instalaciones de Brians 2 después de 14 meses en prisiónhttps://t.co/ijtjNPIrXG pic.twitter.com/cttA12T5H6
— Cadena SER (@La_SER) March 25, 2024
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