Dani Alves expels family from trial as he faces alleged rape charge

Former footballer Dani Alves will commence the second day of his trial today, as he defends himself against an alleged rape charge, following an incident that occurred on the 30th of December 2022 in a Barcelona nightclub. The 40-year-old has been in custody for the last 12 months, after handing himself in, although he has thus far defended his innocence.

On Monday the court heard the testimonies of the victim – a closed testimony with the 23-year-old’s voice distorted and image blurred out –  and those of her friends who were with her on the night in question, and the employees of the nightclub. One of the friends claimed, based on what the victim told her, that Alves threw the victim to the floor of the bathroom where the incident occurred, telling her ‘you are my little whore’, amongst a series of more explicit details.

Alves’ mother was also present at the trial, and had hoped to cross paths with her son, but had to make do with signing a love heart to Alves, to which he responded with a smile. After that Lucia Alves was removed at the request of Dani, who asked the court that none of his family members be present for the rest of the proceedings. Alves is due to testify on Wednesday, say Diario AS.

At the start of the trial, Alves’ laywers asked for the case to be thrown out, claiming the media reporting had obscured his right to a fair trial in their characterisation of Alves, while also claiming that the fact there was no blood test carried out on Alves to establish the amount of alcohol in his system. This could have been a mitigating factor in securing a reduced sentence. Both of these petitions were dismissed by the judge.

If Alves is found guilty of rape, he faces a jail sentence of between 9 and 12 years, as well as damages of €150k for the victim.