Dani Alves Sentenced To Four And A Half Years In Prison For Rape In A Nightclub

Daniel Alves had a confirmed sentence of four years and six months by the Spanish Court for sexual assault on a 23-year-old woman in a nightclub in Barcelona, ​​Spain, in 2022. The sentence was announced this Thursday, the 22nd. The announcement of the sentence takes place two weeks after the trial, which lasted three days at the Barcelona Court and was presided over by judge Isabel Delgado Pérez. Arrested for 13 months, the player, who claims innocence, has already served his sentence.

“The court considers it proven that “the accused abruptly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the floor and, preventing her from moving, penetrated her vagina, despite the complainant having said no, that she wanted to leave”. And it understands that “this complies with the type of absence of consent, with the use of violence, and with carnal access”, says an excerpt from the decision.

“… Because the impact that alcohol consumption could have had on the defendant’s volitional and cognitive faculties was not proven in plenary”, says another part of the sentence said Elizabeth Jiménez, prosecutor of the case against Dani Alves in Barcelona.

The process was marked by five different versions presented by Daniel Alves until the last one, presented at trial, in which he alleges drunkenness. The victim, in turn, maintained a statement from beginning to end.

• In his first statement about the case, before his arrest, Daniel Alves claimed that he did not even know the complainant
• In the second version , in testimony, Daniel Alves claimed that the men’s and women’s bathrooms at the nightclub had a single door, and that he had entered at the same time as the girl. The player, however, denied that he had committed a sexual act;
• In the third version , after his arrest, Alves admitted to having a relationship with the victim, but it was oral and consensual sex
• The fourth version presented by the player’s defense says that he had sexual intercourse with the complainant, with penetration. But the act was consensual;
• The fifth version appeared days before the trial. Daniel Alves claims that he was very drunk that night, and that the act was consensual.

Daniel Alves’ trial lasted three days and involved 28 witnesses from both sides. The player has been in pre-trial detention since January 20, 2023. The complainant’s defense requested 12 years in prison for the former full-back, while the prosecution defended the nine-year sentence, and had already highlighted that the events “are not worthy of punishment minimum”.

The indictment asked that Daniel Alves be sentenced to 12 years, while the Public Ministry’s request indicated nine. A punishment of a maximum of six years in prison was expected. The reason for the reduction of the sentence was the defense’s payment to the Court, at the beginning of the process, for compensation of 150 thousand euros to the young victim of the crime. Daniel Alves received the amount to pay the fine in court from Neymar da Silva Santos, father of the Brazilian national team and Al-Hilal player. In addition to the prison time, the sentence also includes another five years of supervised release and nine years of separation from the victim.

Daniel Alves was a player for Pumas, in Mexico, when the case came to light. The crime allegedly took place in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, 2022. The Mexican club announced the termination of the Brazilian’s contract on the same day of his arrest, on January 20, 2023.

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Alexis Parker

Parker is a commerce writer at Vogue. At George V Magazine she writes about beauty, fashion, celebrities, and commerce. Based in New York City.

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