- Catalonia’s highest court sentenced former Brazil football player Dani Alves to four and a half years in jail on Thursday after finding him guilty of sexually abusing a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022. Alves was also mandated by the court to give the victim €150,000 ($162,990).
- The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,” the court said in a statement.
- Alves’ attorneys informed reporters outside the courthouse that he plans to appeal the term, which also includes a nine and a half-year restraining order and a five-year probationary period upon release, on the grounds that the sex was consensual.
- “We are satisfied as the sentence recognises what we’ve been saying all along: that the victim was telling the truth and that she suffered,” David Saenz, a member of the victim’s legal team, told reporters, adding that the team would analyse whether the sentence corresponds to the gravity of the crime.
- Alves’ lawyer, Inés Guardiola, disagreed with the sentencing, saying: “We are going to appeal. I still believe in Dani Alves’ innocence. We haven’t read the whole sentence yet because it’s very long, but we are going to study it in detail now. We defend [Alves’] innocence.”
- The prosecutor had sought a nine-year prison term for Alves and the victim requested 12 years but the court landed on 4½ years, saying it considered that he had opted to pay the victim the compensation regardless of the outcome of the trial as a mitigating factor.
- Catalonia’s highest court sentenced former Brazil football player Dani Alves to four and a half years in jail on Thursday after finding him guilty of sexually abusing a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022. Alves was also mandated by the court to give the victim €150,000 ($162,990).
- The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,” the court said in a statement.
- Alves’ attorneys informed reporters outside the courthouse that he plans to appeal the term, which also includes a nine and a half-year restraining order and a five-year probationary period upon release, on the grounds that the sex was consensual.
- “We are satisfied as the sentence recognises what we’ve been saying all along: that the victim was telling the truth and that she suffered,” David Saenz, a member of the victim’s legal team, told reporters, adding that the team would analyse whether the sentence corresponds to the gravity of the crime.
- Alves’ lawyer, Inés Guardiola, disagreed with the sentencing, saying: “We are going to appeal. I still believe in Dani Alves’ innocence. We haven’t read the whole sentence yet because it’s very long, but we are going to study it in detail now. We defend [Alves’] innocence.”
- The prosecutor had sought a nine-year prison term for Alves and the victim requested 12 years but the court landed on 4½ years, saying it considered that he had opted to pay the victim the compensation regardless of the outcome of the trial as a mitigating factor.
