Justice postpones decision and only defines future of Daniel Alves next week

The Provincial Hearing of Barcelona postponed until next week the decision on the future of Daniel Alves – whether the Brazilian will remain in provisional prison or wait in freedom for the judgment of the process in which he is accused of sexual assault.

The decision to extend the time for evaluating the appeal presented by the defense was not justified or officially communicated, but judicial sources with access to the process revealed to UOL that an opinion is scheduled for Tuesday.

It was expected that a decision would be released on Thursday (16), but the schedule for Room 3 of the Hearing provided for the judgment of other cases, which made an immediate opinion unfeasible. Afterwards, it was expected that the conclusion of the analysis of the defense’s appeal would take place this Friday (17), but the board members asked for more time to evaluate the case.

The lawyers of Daniel Alves, the complainant and the prosecutor of the Spanish Public Ministry went to the Provincial Hearing on Thursday. The player was not summoned to attend. Members of the Hearing assess whether the defense’s appeal, which asks for the Brazilian to leave prison, will be accepted or denied.

Daniel Alves has been in pretrial detention since January 20 in the Brians prison complex, about 40 km from Barcelona. He is accused by a 23-year-old woman, who claims to have been raped on the night of December 30, in the bathroom of a VIP area of ​​the Sutton nightclub, in the Catalan capital.

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The meeting between the defense of Daniel Alves, the complainant’s lawyer and the prosecutor of the Spanish Public Ministry with the magistrates of Room 3 of the Hearing had the objective of allowing the parties to present the arguments in favor and against the release of the player. Last week, the defense’s appeal was delivered to the Chamber, as well as the prosecution’s defenses.

However, attorney Cristóbal Martell took advantage of the time he had to refute the victim’s version again – as he had already done in the appeal. In his intervention, the lawyer changed the version given by the player so far, stating that there was a sexual relationship with penetration and consent.

The complainant’s lawyer, Ester García López, used her time at the Hearing to argue that, even with all the precautionary measures that Daniel Alves says he is willing to adopt, the risk of fleeing Spain persists.

“As a private prosecution, we maintain the same position we had in contesting the appeal: we understand that he should be held without bail. The risk of flight remains high and he has not even been in prison for a month”, said the lawyer in a brief conversation with journalists at the end of the Hearing.