Dani Alves‘hopes of mounting a successful defense have taken a turn for the worse. The former Barcelona and Sevilla player was arrested for an alleged sexual assault on a young woman on the night of December 30 at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona.
The Brazilian international was imprisoned following the issue of a non-bailable arrest warrant signed by the magistrate Anna Marn.
Now, according to the newspaper La Vanguardia, a new witness has come forth with assault accusations of her own.
Mayka Navarro reports in the Barcelona daily that one of the two young women who accompanied the victim at the Sutton club told the Mossos d’Esquadra that Dani Alves had earlier made advances towards her, groped her violently and put his hand on her private areas.
The companion’s version coincides with that of the original complainant.
“I noticed how he touched my friends and how close he was to them,” a statement from the initial report read.
The tattoo that gave Alves away
Alveswho has been transferred to another jail to “guarantee security and coexistence”, has seen how a contradiction of his has come to light before the judge.
The victim recognized one of the Brazilian’s tattoos on his abdomen and according to judicial sources consulted by the newspaper El Mundo, the complainant described the tattoo in the shape of a crescent moon that is located on the right side of his abdomen.
When the judge asked Alves about it, the legendary right back gave two different versions. In the first, he explained that it was the young woman who had attacked him while he was sitting on the toilet. After the judge dismantled this version, the footballer declared that the victim did not throw herself at him, but that it was the Brazilian who stood up, making it easier to see his tattoo.
What are the penalties for Alves if he is found guilty?
According to the victim’s statement, which the investigating judge considers “forceful and persistent”, the player forced himself on her in a bathroom located in a reserved area of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30 to 31.
After the last legislative modification, the penalties range between four and 12 years in prison.
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