Dani Alves sentenced to 4 and a half years in jail for sexual assault

Former Barcelona and Brazil full-back Dani Alves has been sentenced to 4 and a half years in jail for sexual assault.

Alves, 40, was arrested by native police in January 2023 as a part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a nightclub in Barcelona.

The Spanish public prosecutor’s workplace alleged that Alves sexually assaulted a 23-year-old lady on the evening of December 30, 2022, on the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. He has repeatedly denied the costs in opposition to him.

Alves was discovered responsible on Thursday morning. He has additionally been sentenced to an extra 5 years of ‘supervised’ freedom upon launch and requested to pay €150,000 (£128k, $163k) to the sufferer plus authorized charges.

Alves can not talk with the sufferer for 9 years and 6 months, or go inside one kilometre of her.

Spanish public prosecutors had been searching for a nine-year jail time period for Alves.

“The ruling considers that it has been confirmed that the sufferer didn’t consent and that there are components of proof, along with the testimony of the complainant, to grasp rape occurred,” the courtroom stated in a press release. 

A member of the sufferer’s prosecution, David Saez, stated: “We aren’t happy with the sentence.

“We have now to contemplate whether or not the severity of the sentence is commensurate with the gravity of the info which have now been confirmed.”

Alves, who performed 408 matches for Barca throughout two spells, in addition to 126 occasions for Brazil, has been in custody since his arrest on January 20, 2023. Earlier than his trial started on February 5, he had been held in a jail to the north west of Barcelona.

5 individuals testified in the beginning of the trial: the alleged sufferer, her pal, her cousin, a waiter and a doorman from the nightclub. On the day the trial began, Alves’ defence crew requested that he testify final and on the trial’s closing day.

The next day noticed 21 witnesses take the stand. Among the many most outstanding have been Joana Sanz, Alves’ spouse, and Bruno Brasil, the pal who was with the footballer on the evening in query.

On the ultimate day in courtroom — Wednesday, February 7 — forensic, medical and psychological consultants additionally testified. Alves spoke in direction of the top of the proceedings and invoked his proper to be questioned solely by his lawyer and never by the alleged sufferer’s lawyer.

All through the investigation, Alves has supplied totally different accounts of the occasions. In a June interview, he confessed to initially offering false details about the incident.

Initially, Alves refuted claims of sexual penetration, claiming that the lady had carried out oral intercourse on him. Nonetheless, throughout his second testimony earlier than the investigating decide on April 17 final 12 months, he admitted that sexual penetration did happen, however that it was consensual. Alves acknowledged he had lied in earlier statements in an try and protect his marriage.

(JORDI BORRAS/POOL/AFP by way of Getty Photos)