Furious lawyer of Dani Alves' rape victim slams 'justice for the rich'

The lawyer representing the woman who was raped by disgraced Brazil and Barcelona defender Dani Alves has furiously lashed out after a Spanish court ruled he could be released on a €1million (£850,000) bail after appealing against his four-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Alves, 40, was found guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022 following his three-day trial last month, and has been held at Brians 2 Prison in Barcelona since January 2023.

He was also ordered to pay a €150,000 (£128,000) fine, and banned from approaching the victim for nine-and-a-half years.

His lawyer, Ines Guardiola, filed an appeal against the verdict, and Alves has now been granted bail by a Barcelona court once he pays the £850,000 fee, meaning he can leave prison while he awaits his final sentence.

Ester Garcia, a lawyer representing the as-yet-unnamed victim, took to Spanish radio to decry the court's decision, claiming it was an example of 'justice for the rich.'

'I'm very surprised and totally outraged... because it's like this is justice for the rich,' Ester Garcia told RAC1 radio in the northeastern Catalonia region, denouncing it as 'scandalous' and saying the footballer could 'get hold of a million euros in a heartbeat'.

Alves asked for his provisional release earlier this week, insisting that he would not 'run away' before his final sentence is handed down.

He has now been granted his wish after his lawyers downplayed the idea that he could be a flight risk.

Prosecutors for Alves' case had called for him to receive a nine-year sentence, and argued that he should not be allowed bail due to concerns he could flee Spain to return to Brazil.

However, he was handed only half the jail time they wanted,