Dani Alves (40 years old) was prosecuted for the rape – “sexual assault with penetration”, in the words of Spanish justice – of a young woman of 23 years old in the toilets of Sutton, a nightclub in Barcelona, on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022. According to the indictment – taken up by AFP – that evening, the Brazilian would have offered champagne to the complainant as well as to her cousin and her friend. He then allegedly invited her to an adjoining room in the VIP area with toilets. That’s when he allegedly raped her. “The court considers as proven the fact that the accused suddenly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and penetrated her vaginally, preventing her from moving, while the complainant said no and wanted go away,” indicated the Barcelona Superior Court of Justice.
The ex-player of FC Barcelona, Paris SG and Juventus Turin has always denied having raped the young woman. More concretely, he admitted to having had sexual relations with her, but assured that it had been consensual. “If she wanted to leave, she could leave at any time, she did not have to be there,” he declared in court, specifying also that he was “not a violent man”. The former right-back, however, changed his version several times regarding the alleged facts. At the start of the case, for example, he claimed, in a video, to have never met the complainant. A lie that he then explained by the desire to protect his marriage.
Also readFootball: Dani Alves sentenced to four and a half years in prison for rape
During his trial, Dani Alves asked to be exonerated or to be sentenced to only one year in prison… a sentence that he had already served since he had been incarcerated on a preventive basis since January 20, 2023 The prosecution, for its part, had requested nine years in prison and ten years of supervised release. The plaintiff’s lawyers asked for three more, or twelve years.
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The verdict fell this Thursday morning. The Barcelona High Court sentenced the Brazilian to four and a half years in prison, half the sentence requested by the prosecution. “The victim did not consent and there is evidence which, beyond the testimony of the complainant, allows the rape to be considered proven,” the court said in a press release. In addition, he was also ordered to pay €150,000 to the victim, to five years of supervised release once his sentence has been served and to stay away from the victim for nine and a half years. Dani Alves can appeal this verdict.
The victim, aged 23 at the time of the events, suffered from “post-traumatic stress of generally high intensity”, according to the public prosecutor. She had testified behind closed doors to preserve her anonymity as well as behind a screen to avoid any visual contact with Dani Alves. “His voice had been modified and his face pixelated on the recording, intended for the exclusive use of judges, in case it leaked,” specifies AFP.