Section 21 of the Barcelona Court has rejected that the trial for sexual assault against Dani Alves should not be held behind closed doors. This was stated by the court in an order issued this Thursday in which, however, they adopted a series of restrictions. The trial cannot be recorded or televised live, nor can images or audio of the session be broadcast. Therefore, in an unusual case, there will be no images of the former footballer presenting his version of the events. In the case of the female complainant, her statement will be held behind closed doors. Following what is established in the Statute of the victim, she will testify behind a screen and with a distorted voice to prevent the content of her appearance from being leaked. The experts and witnesses who testify must refer to the woman as “the complainant” without mentioning her name at any time to avoid being identified.
The prosecution had demanded that all sessions of the trial to be held from February 5 to 9 be held behind closed doors to “preserve the privacy of the victim”, a request to which the private prosecution joined. The court understands that a trial cannot be held behind closed doors because “the publicity of judicial proceedings (…) is a principle of common application in democratic regimes and in the case of Spain, in addition, a constitutional requirement guaranteeing the defendant. that he will not be judged in a clandestine or hidden manner. Now, it establishes a series of restrictions. “The facts that will be prosecuted in this procedure have an obvious media impact that arouses the interest of the media and citizens, without this in itself being an obstacle to limiting the publicity of the oral hearing. However, this resonance information can have serious consequences in the sphere of privacy of the complainant, who could be doubly affected”.
The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for nine years in prison for Dani Alves for the alleged rape of a young woman at the Sutton nightclub. In the indictment, the Public Ministry attributes the crime of sexual assault with penetration to the former FC Barcelona player and also requests ten years of supervised release and compensation of 150,000 euros for the physical and psychological consequences and the moral damages suffered by the victim. . This amount has already been recorded by the footballer in court. The events occurred in the early hours of December 30 to 31, 2022 in a booth at the nightclub. The victim suffers high intensity post-traumatic stress as a consequence of the events, “with functional repercussions and deterioration” following treatment for it. The private prosecution representing the victim demands 12 years in prison for Alves.
