Daniel’s defense uses cases of sexual assault of minors for freedom

Provisionally arrested in Spain two weeks ago accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona, ​​at the end of last year, Daniel Alves asked the country’s justice for parole through an appeal filed last Wednesday (1). The defense even uses cases of aggression against minors to try to free the athlete.

UOL had access to the appeal presented and it lists 10 different and controversial judicial cases in Spain as the basis for the request for freedom.

One such case is the famous “the herd“, of 2016, which toughened the country’s law on sexual crimes after a gang rape was first ruled as “sexual abuse”.

the case “La Herd” originated the term “environmental intimidation”, which defines the place where sexual violence takes place as generally threatening, which inhibits the victim’s decision. a toxic environment on the night of December 30, 2022.

Another example used was an investigation of recurrent sexual abuse of minors committed by a school principal who is also awaiting trial in freedom since 2020.

In the appeal, lawyer Cristóbal Martell also mentions other cases of people accused of sexual crimes who received the right to parole pending trial, which Daniel seeks.

The defense tries to show that there is no risk of fleeing, that Daniel Alves is willing to hand over passports and present himself even daily to the judge in the case and that there is no chance of retaliation against the whistleblower during the investigations.

One of the cases used by the defense is of a man with no Spanish residence who was released on bail in a case of rape. The case is from 2021 and the accused is a Colombian man. According to the judge, “the existence of evidence of criminality is not questioned.” Even so, the man left prison with the obligation to present himself to the judge on the 1st and 15th of each month. Daniel Alves’ lawyer says in the appeal that the cases are similar and that the reading could be the same now.

In another case of sexual assault in 2021, Justice’s counterparts included the removal of the investigated passport, with a ban on leaving Spanish territory and communication with the complainant and the obligation to report weekly to the judge. In this case, the accused was a man with sporadic work, who lived in the region with his grandfather and uncles. Justice saw the elements as sufficient to set him free until he was tried.

Other cases used by the defense of Daniel Alves as case law involve even minors:

– An investigation of sexual abuse and attempted sexual assault on a minor by a citizen of Moroccan nationality, without a stable job in Spain, who gained provisional release in 2022.

– An investigation into sexual abuse or aggression against a minor, with induction into prostitution and the production of pornographic material by a Spanish citizen by birth and residence who was granted parole by promising not to approach and communicate with the victim.

Daniel Alves’ lawyer adds to the justification that mentions this 2019 case that the player has Spanish nationality and resides in Spain, as well as the man in that case.

WHY IS THE DANIEL ALVES CASE DIFFERENT?

The search for precedents is common in this type of resource to substantiate the arguments of the defense. However, the case of Daniel Alves has at least two aspects that differentiate it from those cited in the document. The first is the “Integral Guarantee of Sexual Freedom Law”, passed at the end of 2022, therefore after all reported cases.

The law known as “Only Yes is Yes”, has as its main point “sexual consent” in cases of abuse or aggression. In addition, there is no longer a distinction between sexual abuse and sexual assault, with different punishments for each case. Thus, there is no “mandatory” use of force or an attempt to resist the victim in order to configure aggression.

The second difference between the cited cases and that of Daniel Alves is that the accusation against the Brazilian player has “more evidence than usual”, according to the complainant’s lawyer, Ester García López. In an exclusive interview with UOL, she stated that “there are more indications because things were done immediately. My client left the club in an ambulance and that already shows how immediate the action was”.

The lawyer also said that the Daniel Alves case is seen as a milestone in the history of sexual assault cases in Spain, whatever the outcome. “Regardless of how the case ends, for me it is already an exemplary case for the way it started. Arrest without bail is already exemplary,” she said.