The judge investigating the former Brazilian FC Barcelona player Dani Alves agreed on May 9 to keep him in prison, where he was admitted on January 20 accused of raping a young woman in a private room at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. In a demolishing car, the magistrate once again questioned the Brazilian’s story. “Being with him chatting and normal, having a drink, none of this has to do with what happened in the bathroom, where there is no recording and the victim states that she was raped and forced to have sex with Mr. Alves (…) Curious that if everything went as well as Mr. Alves points out, after leaving the bathroom they do not speak or look at each other again, “says the judge.
However, his defense assured that they did not plan to give up and resorted to an alleged “sexualized” attitude of the victim to demonstrate the resounding consent of the young woman. “An openly sexualized behavior is observed in her, typical of a sexual flirtation in the courtship phase. Certain body movements of the complainant are conclusive” they maintain in an appeal in which they also belittle the crying of the young woman after what happened in the bathroom. “A cry that does not necessarily derive from an unconscious sexual act. We can think of 1,000 reasons other than assault for a 23-year-old woman who has had sex with a 40-year-old man in a bathroom to burst into tears. The complainant flees towards forward and is forced to write a script, because she tries to justify why and for what she enters a bathroom with a man”, concludes the Brazilian’s legal team.
However, a new security video that shows the uncomfortable moments experienced by the alleged victim of sexual abuse puts the footballer on the ropes and dismantles his defense strategy.
hand to genitals
The Catalan newspaper Ara has had access to the security cameras of the place and details how the sequence of that night of December 30 was. According to the information that was known so far, Dani Alves entered Sutton during the early morning and went directly to the VIP sector, more precisely to table number 6 that was on that floor. From there the soccer player asked the waiter to call the woman, who was with his group in the same place but further away.
They agreed. They began to talk and drink bottles of champagne, until the atmosphere became more relaxed and they began to dance. From there, the newspaper Ara recounted what happened after seeing the recording of the cameras: “At one point, the victim had his back to the soccer player, but he grabbed his hand and took it to the area of his genitals . The girl suddenly took it out and, covertly, stretched out her hand towards her cousin to continue dancing with her and get away from Alves ”.
While they continued to dance, there was another episode that highlighted the medium in question: “They danced face to face and Alves lowered his hand to the girl’s behind. She took it off again.”
But those uncomfortable moments that the woman lived, as reflected in the newspaper, were only going to be the beginning. Immediately afterwards, “Alves left the scene (…) A camera that recorded the entire plant clearly shows how the footballer stood in front of a door, opened it and waited for the victim to be there. Then he cut her off and closed the door when the girl was inside.
The young woman did not know where she was coming in.
At the same time, they also explained, according to what they could see through the cameras, that the young woman “did not know where she was entering” because the light was off and the interior was not visible.
“The girl went in such a way that she only sees Alves in front of the door and she could not understand what was inside. Also, there was no sign on the door. She, according to her statement, thought they were going to a smoking area. Her idea was to say goodbye to the soccer player after speaking with her cousin because they were not comfortable ”.
The only thing the cameras couldn’t capture was what happened once that door closed. However, they did record their reactions as they left there. “Dani Alves was the first to come out of the bathroom. He walked a few meters and grabbed a glass from the table, gave it a swig, and moved to one end of the VIP area, avoiding speaking to those with him. He chatted with those in the booth next door and took a photo with them.
The girl, for her part, “went out and went straight to look for the other young woman (her cousin) to tell her it was time to go. The first one said goodbye to Alves’s friend with a kiss; the victim of the alleged assault, distant, just gave him a high five. They both left the disco quickly.
A common injury in abuse
Once in the hallway that was meters from the street, the victim burst into tears. She “She was with her cousin and she began to cry. One of his first gestures was to quickly point to his knee, where he had a wound that the medical report picked up, ”said Ara. A type of injury that is usually common in sexual assaults according to experts.
“The girl stretches out her leg and touches her knee with her finger while looking at her cousin. Then they hugged. During all that time she did not stop crying. Faced with this situation, a nightclub guard approached. The girl, again, pointed to the wound,” the story continued.
Subsequently, one of the most questioned scenes in recent months would come: the departure of Dani Alves from the nightclub. “The footballer, wearing a sweater over his white T-shirt and a cap on, walked past the group without stopping and can even be seen taking a small step to avoid the girls and the guard. The conversation stopped and they looked at him without saying anything.
That was the last scene before the protocol was activated and the complainant was transferred to the hospital, where it was finally verified that there had been penetration.
One of the keys that the video shows and that has already been questioned by the judge investigating the case is the notable change in the footballer’s position regarding how he was before entering the bathroom and after leaving: “Before he was relaxed, sociable and talkative. Afterwards, he did not speak again, neither with the victim nor with his cousin.
The consistency of the victim’s statement, without hesitating or changing versions as Alves did, has stopped any possible option for provisional release. Now these images further complicate the footballer’s situation.
