Robinho case gets in the way of Daniel Alves, says lawyer – 02/19/2023 – Sport

The lawyer Cristóbal Martell Pérez-Alcalde, specialist in criminal law and responsible for the defense of Daniel Alves, said this Sunday (19) to Sheet that the case of fellow Brazilian Robinho makes it difficult for his client to ask for freedom.

The 39-year-old winger is accused of having raped a 23-year-old girl in the VIP area of ​​a Barcelona nightclub on December 31 of last year. Since January 20, he has been imprisoned in the Brians penitentiary center, in the metropolitan area of ​​the same city.

In his first interview with a Brazilian media outlet since he took over the case in January, Pérez-Alcalde tells what he saw on the cameras at the nightclub, refutes the issue of different versions and says that he bases his defense on one point: there is no injury , according to him, compatible with rape.

The lawyer also gives details about the semen found and the description of the tattoo made by the accuser. He mocks the opposing lawyer for saying that Daniel Alves could flee in a private plane and says that, if convicted, the player could spend 12 years in a Spanish jail.

According to the defender, Daniel Alves is completely innocent and “he has a very focused head”.

Although he believes that his client can be released this Tuesday (21) to follow the rest of the investigations at his home in Barcelona, ​​he says that the Robinho case weighs against the side – Robinho lives free in Brazil despite being convicted in Italy of raping a young woman in a Milan nightclub in 2013.

Is Daniel Alves innocent? It’s innocent. Totally innocent. What happened was a consensual sexual relationship.

It weighs against him the fact that he changed versions a few times, doesn’t it? It is true that Daniel Alves took a step forward and voluntarily took the stand. Right now, he had only one obsession, and that was to preserve his marriage. This resulted in its first release. Alves only gave testimony once and, in that statement, he began by denying the fact. Faced with certain evidence, he ended up admitting, but always stating that there was a voluntary nature of the partner, of the sexual encounter with consent. This has not been modified since then.

In your opinion, what do the nightclub cameras show? The denunciation was built from a truly dark story, which is the will subdued by environmental intimidation. Well, the cameras show for twenty long minutes five young people interacting, dancing, dancing in a more or less sexualized way, but happy. There has been repeated talk about the reserved area in the VIP area. Reserved, reserved… No, it’s not a reserved. It’s an open area. It is, yes, reserved for the general public of the club, but it is an area that can fit 70 people. That is, the idea of ​​being reserved is not something closed and cloistered. I believe that this nuance is important from the point of view that people acted freely there and from the radical denial of the existence of environmental intimidation.

Do details such as the semen collected and the tattoo described by her corroborate this version of the defense? The semen where? Because semen has been collected in several places. The sample detected in the vagina is not decisive. There are other semen samples in the bathroom and on her clothes, and they are from Alves. But for us this is not the discussion. Because there was consensual sex. So it is.

And what about the tattoo? It doesn’t exactly describe it, but neither do we understand that it poses a problem if we are in the context of a consensual sexual act.

In this case, why did the accuser say that she does not want money, but wants it to go to chain?Procedurally, this declaration of not seeking compensation is not final. The process will go through other moments and at the moment of qualification, of formalizing the accusation, she will have the opportunity to ask for the money.

And when does this formalization take place? With the investigation closed and with all the material gathered, the party is forwarded to make the complaint, cite the crime, request a sentence and, eventually, ask for compensation. Yet to come. She can ask or not ask.

How long can this process take? It’s hard to say, as some courts are faster than others. And the court that will judge Daniel is still unknown. Right now we are still in the research phase. But in the temporal scenario, I see a horizon between ten months and a year, at least.

And what about the request that he be released? I think we’ll find out on Tuesday (21).

What are the chances of Daniel Alves being released on Tuesday? It is very difficult to make a prediction. But I would like to make the following point: preventive detention is not an early sentence. Daniel Alves is not yet on trial. It is simply to ensure that the process continues and that the person is available to the court to face whatever it may be.

And what is the purpose of Daniel Alves’ preventive detention? To avoid the risk of leakage. Is there an escape plan? I don’t think so, Daniel Alves behaved positively and voluntarily by going to the police when he learned that there was a lawsuit. He returned from Mexico to testify. It is not true that he was in Spain only because of his mother-in-law’s death. Since January 11th, he has been talking to his lawyer. Emails were already being exchanged with the Spanish police to arrange a meeting. The question is whether Daniel Alves has roots in Spain. He is married to a Spanish woman. His residence since 2010 is Spain. He has traveled the world, but is registered in a Spanish municipality. Its two most important companies, the real estate company and the one that manages its image rights, are in Barcelona and its employees are Spanish. In other words, I believe that getting rooted with Daniel Alves in Barcelona is very important. What will the court decide? Sensibly, it should be in favor of the freedom of Daniel Alves. It is true that the timing is not the best possible. In Spain, we are experiencing a very troubled moment in which sexual crimes are on the front pages of newspapers. And Daniel Alves is a symbolic character

So if they release him, that doesn’t mean he’s being found innocent, right? Exactly. They are two different discussions. In fact, what he wants is to prove his innocence, not start an escape adventure.

That would remind you of Robinho’s situation, right? Of course, this Robinho thing doesn’t help us. Brazil, like so many other countries, including Spain, does not surrender its citizens. Furthermore, it does so as a constitutional imperative. Article 5 of the Federal Constitution of Brazil prohibits the surrender of nationals for crimes of this nature. I don’t know Robinho’s case well enough. I don’t want to speak out, nor can I, nor should I. But, in fact, the fact that Italy, until today, has not been successful in complying with Robinho’s sentence does not help the provisional release of Daniel Alves. But this cannot be a definitive argument. This does not mean a space of impunity.

The State does not hand over the citizen, but, correspondingly, undertakes that the citizen who has been convicted abroad can be tried in its own territory or serve the foreign sentence in its territory. This is the complete content of the international system of non-surrender of citizens. And that’s what people don’t explain.

But Robinho is not fulfilling anything in Brazil. But Italy will ask Brazil for Robinho to serve his sentence and Brazil will study the process and see if the guarantees of prosecution have been met and there is a possibility that the Brazilian will serve his foreign sentence in Brazilian territory. But I can’t talk about Robinho’s problem. Let’s just say that I referred to the case in an abstract way.

Has Daniel Alves’ passport been handed over to the Spanish court? We offer your passports. Daniel Alves has dual nationality and we offer them, Brazilian and Spanish.

Last week, the prosecuting attorney said she feared that Daniel Alves would flee in a private plane. Yes, very good. Very good [irônico]. As if private planes weren’t subject to air navigation and police laws, as they are. It’s an absurd. This is part of the circus and the show.

Is it not possible to travel on a private plane without a passport? Not without a passport. Private planes also have customs controls. It’s just an argument made for the media circus.

How is Daniel Alves’ morale in prison? Daniel Alves has a very focused mind. It’s almost like he’s the one cheering me on. And when we parted on Friday, he told me “I’m at peace because I know the truth”.

Did he say anything to you about ending his football career? We didn’t talk about it. I am really sorry.

If this case had occurred a year ago, before the Só Sim É Sim law, what would change legally? It wouldn’t change legally because the discussion would still be the same, which is whether there was consent or not. What has changed is the environment. Social pressure, sociological tension, special attention to these facts that are in the newspapers every day, because the new law has been much discussed, much debated. But nothing would change because, I insist, the discussion is about consent.

But what about the penalty, didn’t it increase after this law? Well, yes, of course. Penalty margins can be smaller, even.

At worst, how long would Daniel Alves’ sentence be? If he is convicted, from four years minimum to 12 years maximum.

Thanks for the interview. I just wanted to make three reflections, yes? They are about indisputable evidence. One, the victim has no vaginal lesions. Two, the victim has no reduction injuries. Reduction injury happens when someone is prevented from moving. If they grab you hard by the arm or wrist, it will leave injuries. She doesn’t have these injuries. And three, even though she said that Daniel Alves slapped her, she doesn’t have that injury either. What she has is a knee injury. But a knee injury is compatible with consensual sex.