Former Brazil Footballer Dani Alves Found Guilty of 2022 Nightclub Assault in Catalan Capital

Former Brazil Footballer Dani Alves Found Guilty of 2022 Nightclub Assault in Catalan Capital

Former Brazil footballer Dani Alves has been found guilty and sentenced to four and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022. The top court in Spain’s Catalonia region delivered the verdict on Thursday, also ordering Alves to pay 150,000 euros ($163,000) to the victim. The sentence was based on the court’s determination that the victim did not consent and that there was sufficient evidence, including the plaintiff’s testimony, to establish the occurrence of rape.

Throughout the trial, Alves maintained that the sexual encounter was consensual. However, the court concluded otherwise, leading to the conviction. The prosecutor had sought a nine-year prison term for Alves, but the court settled on a lesser sentence. It is worth noting that the verdict can still be appealed.

The case has garnered significant attention due to Alves’s high-profile status and the growing prominence of discussions surrounding gender violence in Spain. This trial stands out as one of the most notable since the introduction of a law in 2022 that made consent a crucial factor in sexual assault cases and increased the minimum prison time for assaults involving violence.

Alves, a 40-year-old former Barcelona defender, was arrested in January last year and has been in custody since then. Following his arrest, he was dismissed by his then-employers, the Mexican club Pumas UNAM. Alves’s legal team was not immediately available for comment.

Lawyer David Saenz, representing the victim, expressed satisfaction with the verdict, stating that it acknowledged the truthfulness of the victim’s account and the suffering she endured. However, Saenz added that they would analyze whether the sentence adequately reflects the gravity of the crime.

CrimeDoor
Author: CrimeDoor

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