Football: Dani Alves, convicted over rape, leaves Spanish prison after posting bail

BARCELONA (Reuters) -Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves was released from a Barcelona prison on Monday after posting bail of 1 million euro ($1.09 million) bail over his conviction for the rape of a woman in a nightclub’s restroom in 2022.

Last Wednesday, a local court ruled that Alves could be conditionally freed on bail while he appeals his rape conviction. He has served about a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Flanked by his lawyer, Alves left the Brians 2 prison northwest of Barcelona at 4.25 p.m. (1525 GMT) wearing a gray jacket over a white turtleneck, a Reuters videographer said.

He did not address reporters at the entrance of the prison before climbing into a white vehicle.

The case of Alves, one of the most successful soccer players in history, has attracted significant attention not only due to the Brazilian’s profile but because gender-based violence has become an increasingly dominant topic in Spain’s public discourse.

Alves’ attorney surrendered both his Brazilian and Spanish passports to comply with the conditions of his release. He cannot leave Spain and must appear before the court every Friday or whenever summoned.

The court also imposed a restraining order barring him from coming within 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) of the victim.

The former Barcelona, Juventus and PSG defender had been held at Brians 2 since January 2023. He was convicted on Feb. 22 of raping the woman in a Barcelona nightclub’s restroom and ordered to pay her 150,000 euros. He has appealed against the conviction, which was not final.

Prison staff at Brians 2 took advantage of the high media interest to protest outside the jail over what they described as insufficient security conditions and urged regional officials to resign.

Corrections officers in Catalonia have been protesting since last week, after a kitchen employee at a different prison was stabbed to death by an inmate.

($1 = 0.9161 euros)

(Reporting by Horaci Garcia; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Bernadette Baum)