The Brazilian right-back has been arrested and is being investigated for sexual assault
the judge Maria Concepcion Canton Martinof the Investigation Court 15 of Barcelona, complied with the request of the Public Prosecutor of the country and decreed this Friday, 20, the preventive detention of Daniel Alves, without bail, for sexual assault. The player was arrested earlier by the police when he voluntarily made a statement.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed by a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Daniel Alves at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, where both were at a party on the night of December 29-30 last year. Daniel Alves was arrested this Friday morning after making a statement to the police and was subsequently ordered into remand. He denies the allegations.
Criminal procedure in Brazil and Spain is different. In the European country, the preliminary investigation takes place before an investigating judge, who analyzes the complaint presented by the deputy to open or not an investigation.
It was the Court of Education 15 of Barcelona which accepted the complaint of the Spanish deputy and ordered the preventive arrest and without bail of the athlete. The charge is “of the crime of sexual assault”.
But what are the next steps in the case involving the Brazilian athlete, with stints in Barcelona, Sao Paulo and the Brazilian national team?
“The Spanish prosecutor’s office should rule on the validity and necessity of this arrest. Daniel Alves’ defense will probably ask for a habeas corpus and will request different and milder precautionary measures”, explains the lawyer Mayra Cardozo, a specialist in human and criminal rights.
The player’s lawyers will appeal against the decision in a Spanish superior court of justice, as clarified by the lawyer Haroldo Cardella, who specializes in procedural and criminal areas. He considers the judge’s decision to determine the preventive detention of Daniel Alves very tough.
“The provision seems to me a bit extreme, a bit abusive. The judge could have taken some other measure other than the imprisonment of a suspect. He could have withheld his passport, for example”, she opines.
The judge argued in the decision to arrest the player that there was a risk of absconding, since the athlete no longer lives in Spain and has the financial resources to leave the country at any time. Also, Spain does not have an extradition agreement with Brazil.
Preventive detention is a precautionary measure, which is applied as a last resort and in specific circumstances. “In theory, it should be used as a last resort, after alternatives such as passport withholding, house arrest before self arrest,” says Mayra.
Spanish penal code
Spain’s penal code was amended in October last year with a new law based on the idea that sexual offenses should be categorized based on the victim’s consent. Therefore, all crimes of a sexual nature, whether or not there was violence, became “sexual assault”.
The law, called “Only yes is yes,” was created to broaden the scope of the crime of sexual assault. All non-consensual sexual acts were now considered violence. Contradictorily, however, sentences for some sexual offenses have been reduced.
The Spanish penal code considers sexual assault “acts of a sexual nature carried out by resorting to violence, intimidation or the abuse of a situation of superiority or vulnerability of the victim”.
The penalty is from one to 15 years for crimes of sexual violence, depending on the seriousness, but it can also be reduced to fines.
Spanish newspaper El Periodico has published details of testimony given by the 23-year-old who claims he was raped by Daniel Alves in Spain. According to the publication, the Brazilian locked, assaulted and raped her in the bathroom of the club’s VIP area. Earlier, local press reported that the victim said the athlete had put his hand inside the woman’s clothes.
According to articles 179 and 180 of the Spanish law on sexual violence, the sentence can reach 15 years when “sexual violence consists of carnal access through the vagina, anus or mouth, or the introduction of limbs or bodily objects by one of the first two paths.”,
Sexual harassment without penetration can be classified as an attack against sexual freedom, with a lower sentence of up to 4 years.
Research in Spain
Spanish justice has different procedures from the Brazilian one, carrying out its own investigation into a case, even if there is a police investigation and a complaint from the prosecutor at the same time, as is the situation with Daniel Alves.
When the complaint arrives, a court appoints the so-called investigating judge to collect the evidence and decide whether there is a crime or a crime. If the answer is affirmative, the case is remanded for trial. The athlete is waiting in custody until the trial, which still does not have a date to take place.
Brazil cannot interfere
The Brazilian authorities cannot interfere in the case because, since the crime was committed in Spain, justice in the European country is sovereign. There are principles of territoriality and sovereignty of each country.
“If the sentence occurs when it is in Brazil, the country does not extradite the Brazilians abroad, unless, since there is a corresponding offense in Brazil, the country opens an investigation against the player,” says the lawyer Mayra Cardozo.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
