"I'm not going to run away"

Former Brazilian footballer Dani Alves has asked the Barcelona Court on Tuesday to release him pending the sentence that sentenced him to four and a half years in prison for raping a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona: "I believe in justice. I am not going to run away".
The 21st section of the Barcelona Court of Appeal held a hearing on Tuesday 19th March to decide whether to release the footballer on bail. Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has on the table the appeals that the Prosecutor's Office, the private prosecution exercised by the victim and the defence have presented against the sentence that sentenced him to four and a half years in prison for raping a young woman in the bathroom of a reserved area of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on 30 December 2022.
The prosecution, which in its appeal against the sentence asks the Court to sentence Alves to nine years in prison, has asked the court to keep the footballer in prison, arguing that there is still a risk of absconding, even more so after the sentence, since the sentence is still high. These arguments were also put forward by the victim's private prosecution, through her lawyer, Ester Garcia, who also emphasised the defendant's financial resources.
However, the defence argues that this economic capacity is not such, given that as a result of his arrest, the sponsorship agreements that Alves had signed with several brands were terminated, he lost his job at the Pumas football club in Mexico and has still not received the sum owed to him by the Treasury for a tax dispute that was resolved in his favour.
The lawyer, Ines Guardiola, also argues that Alves served a quarter of his sentence on 5th March, so that if the sentence were final, he would be able to enjoy leave and even access the third degree, that the sentence imposed is much lower than that requested by the accusations - nine and twelve years - and that the TSJC can take up to a year to rule on the matter. As alternatives, the defence, which in its appeal to the TSJC again asks for acquittal, accepts that a bail of 50,000 euros be imposed on Alves, in addition to the withdrawal of his passport and weekly court appearances.
At the end of the hearing, Alves spoke by video conference from Brians 2 prison, where he has been in pre-trial detention for more than a year, and assured the court that he intends to "go all the way" in this case because he believes in justice.