Dani Alves could be released from prison sooner than expected. This Monday, the Brazilian footballer’s defence team, headed by the prestigious criminal lawyer Cristobal Mertell, plans to present the appeal against the order of provisional detention without bail decreed on January 20 by the judge in charge of the case.
After having studied all the material in the case, the player’s lawyers are confident that their appeal will be successful and that Alves will be released from prison within a month.
The footballer’s legal team estimates that the court will have 30 days to study the defence’s brief, ask the prosecution and the public prosecutor’s office for arguments and make a decision.
According to the newspaper El Mundo, Alves’ lawyers believe that there is evidence to support the footballer’s version that the relations were consensual.
La Suite: One of the most expensive VIP areas in Barcelona
Part of this evidence, according to El Mundo, is the layout of the VIP room of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, known as ‘La Suite’, where the events allegedly took place.
It’s one of the most expensive and private VIP areas in Barcelona, as it has direct access from the car park, and has a large window to the dance floor.
It is accessed through a hidden door near the DJ and up some stairs, as it is like a duplex. According to several sources quoted by El Mundo, it is one of Alves’ favourites.
While the VIP room is at the top of the stairs, the toilet where the rape allegedly took place is at the bottom, near the exit.
According to the victim’s statement, she followed Alves when he told her to come with him, although she thought they were going to another reserved room and not to a toilet. There, he allegedly closed the door and sexually assaulted her despite her resistance.
Alves’ version is that the two voluntarily went to this bathroom to have consensual sex and that he denied it at first (contradicting his version before the judge up to three times) for fear of confessing his infidelity to his wife, the Spanish model Joana Sanz.
