Dani Alves to prison for 4 and a half years

The Brazilian soccer player, Dani Alves, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for having raped a woman in the bathrooms of a Barcelona nightclub, the court of that Spanish city announced on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

The magistrates considered “it is proven that the victim did not consent and that there are elements of evidence, in addition to the testimony of the complainant, to understand the rape as proven,” in their decision published two weeks after the end of the trial.

The court imposed an additional 5 years of probation, a restraining order from the victim for 9 and a half years, and payment of compensation of 150,000 euros (about $160,000).

The 40-year-old former FC Barcelona and PSG footballer can appeal the sentence.

The Prosecutor’s Office, which gave credibility to the complainant’s story from the beginning of the investigations, requested a nine-year sentence for him.

His defense, however, had requested his acquittal and, in case of conviction, his lawyer had evoked alcohol consumption as one of the possible mitigating circumstances.

As during the oral trial, held between February 5 and 7, Alves was taken this Thursday to the Barcelona Court in a police van from the Spanish prison where he has been held for 13 months to receive the sentence.

Dani Alves was accused of having raped a young woman in a bathroom at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022.

According to the Prosecutor’s accusation, the events occurred in a reserved area of ​​that fashionable establishment where Alves – who was familiar with the establishment and was there with a friend – would have coincided with the woman, who was accompanied by a cousin. And a friend.

After inviting them to champagne, the former Brazilian national team fullback would have invited the young woman to enter another exclusive area where the small bathroom was, which she did not know about.

There, according to the Public Ministry, Alves attacked her and forced her to have sexual relations, despite her resistance.

The Prosecutor, Elisabet Jiménez, considered during the trial that the woman presented an “absolutely credible story” since the investigations began, and assured that Alves used “violence” to force the young woman, who “did what she could” to get away

Protected by measures to preserve her anonymity in a trial with great media expectations, the complainant, who is still undergoing psychological treatment, testified behind closed doors.

So did his two companions that night, who supported their version by describing the nervous state in which they found the young woman, who according to her friend came out of the bathroom “crying inconsolably” and told them that Alves had done “a lot of harm” to her. .

The footballer, who spoke on the last day and only responded to his lawyer’s questions, however denied that he had used any type of violence and reiterated that the relationships had been consensual.

“She could leave at any time, she was not obliged to be there,” Alves said about the young woman, during a statement in which she assured that he is not “a violent man.”

“We were both enjoying it,” added the Brazilian, who changed his version of events several times during these months.

The court heard almost thirty witnesses, including police officers and employees of the premises that attended to the complainant, who also influenced her state of “shock”, as well as her initial reluctance to report.

The testimonies from Alves’s entourage focused, on their part, on highlighting that the footballer had drunk a lot, although his friend Bruno, the only one who accompanied him that night, indicated that he maintained a “respectful chemistry” with the woman.

Dani Alves, one of the most successful footballers in history, played for clubs such as Sevilla and Juventus Turin, in addition to being part of Messi and Guardiola’s successful Barça team.

When the events occurred, he was briefly in Barcelona, ​​after returning from the World Cup in Qatar.

After his entry into prison in January 2023, his team at the time, the Pumas de México, terminated his contract.