Dani Alves To Be Released From Prison After €1m Bail

Dani Alves is allegedly due to be released from prison this afternoon after posting a €1 million (£850,000) bail bond for his rape conviction.

According to Mail Online, the player is also believed to have followed the other demands of the three judges who ordered he may leave jail despite his recent rape conviction by surrendering his Spanish and Brazilian passports.

The 40-year-old father of two is anticipated to be released for the first time in 14 months, around 5 p.m. local time.

He was told last Wednesday that he could leave Brian 2 Prison near Barcelona after winning his appeal to serve his four-and-a-half-year jail term from the comfort of his own house rather than a cell.

However, because he was unable to raise the bail bond, he spent the weekend in jail. According to Alves’ lawyer, Ines Guardiola, the Brazilian has two bank accounts in Spain, one with no balance and the other with €51,000 (£44,000), both of which are subject to a judicial seizure.

Guardiola claimed last year that her client is “broke” and has a “negative bank balance of £17,000,” despite formerly having a fortune of £47 million.

Read Also: Dani Alves Granted Release From Jail On €1million Bail

Sport said that Alves’ accounts in Brazil have also been frozen due to issues with his ex-wife Dinorah Santana. However, Alves is poised to collect €9.2 million (£7.9 million) after his tax lawyer, Fernando Mota, won four cases against Spain’s tax department.

The court to assess Alves’ bail noted that the 40-year-old was scheduled to receive ‘a considerable sum of money back from the government, but he has yet to receive the money.

Brazilian teammate Neymar’s father was anticipated to assist Alves in paying the money to ensure his release, however, he issued a statement denying that he would hand over any money after facing political pressure in his own country.

Alves, who was convicted on February 22 of raping a 23-year-old woman in the toilet of upmarket Barcelona nightclub Sutton after a three-day trial earlier that month, is set to spend his first night free since January 20 last year at his £4 million mansion in Esplugues de Llobregat, a 25-minute drive west of Barcelona’s city centre.

The prison sentence he obtained was significantly less than the nine years sought by public prosecutors and the 12 years sought by Alves’ female accuser if he was found guilty.

Prosecutors have challenged the decision to release him on bond, but the appeal is unlikely to alter today’s scheduled release.

Alves protested his innocence on February 7 after taking the stand on the final day of his three-day trial, claiming that the sex he had with his 23-year-old female accuser was consensual and that he would never harm anyone.

When the lady he was convicted of raping testified in court behind a screen, she claimed he forced himself on her after beating her.

The three trial judges stated in a 61-page written verdict released after Alves learned of his sentence that his pre-payment of the €150,000 (£128,000) he was ordered to give his victim as compensation was considered a mitigating factor.

They determined she danced with Alves before voluntarily walking to a restroom near Sutton’s VIP section, which the footballer had entered moments before in what they described as an apparent ‘previous agreement’ to ‘be with him in a more personal setting.’

But outlining what they ruled had been proven and had contributed to them convicting Alves, they added: “He tried to penetrate his victim by making use of his greater strength and throwing her on the floor and making her bang her knee.

“The victim asked Dani Alves to let her leave, making it clear she wanted to get out of there, but he didn’t let her.

“Finding herself in that situation, in that small toilet without any option of being able to leave because Mr Alves was preventing her with the violent attitude he was demonstrating, she felt shocked and unable to react or breathe properly given the situation of anguish and terror she was experiencing.”

They added of the toilet rape: “Using his physical strength and overcoming his victim’s opposition, Alves bent her over the toilet and raped his victim until he ejaculated inside her, without using a condom and without her consent.”

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli