Spanish prosecutors are set to enchantment a court docket ruling that overturned the rape conviction of former Brazilian worldwide footballer Dani Alves.
Alves, a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, was discovered responsible final 12 months of raping a younger girl in a toilet of a Spanish nightclub in 2022. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
Nonetheless, on Friday, a Barcelona appeals court docket overturned the preliminary verdict, citing inconsistencies and contradictions in Alves’ trial.
The court docket dominated that there was inadequate proof to show his guilt past an affordable doubt.
The appeals court docket additionally described the accuser as an “unreliable complainant,” stating that her testimony “differed notably” from video footage captured earlier than she and Alves entered the toilet, the place she alleged he pressured her into non-consensual intercourse.
The general public prosecutor’s workplace in Catalonia confirmed in a press release that it plans to problem the ruling however didn’t present additional particulars.
🚨🇧🇷 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 | Dani Alves has been acquitted of a criminal offense of sexual assault. The court docket considers that the testimony of the younger girl is just not sufficient to uphold the conviction of the previous footballer, stories @diarioas. pic.twitter.com/WaZz9l7sy7
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 28, 2025
In response to the appeals court docket’s choice, a whole bunch of demonstrators gathered in Barcelona on Monday in a protest organised by feminist teams. Many carried indicators condemning the ruling as “unacceptable” and demanding or not it’s overturned.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Jesus Montero mentioned that it was a “disgrace” that the testimony of a rape sufferer “continues to be being questioned” and that “presumption of innocence is alleged to take priority over the testimony of younger, courageous girls.”
She later apologised on Tuesday, clarifying that she didn’t intend to “name into query the presumption of innocence.” Nonetheless, she maintained that the appeals court docket’s choice to annul Alves’ conviction represented “a step backwards.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has positioned himself as a feminist, has prioritised the battle in opposition to sexual violence. His administration reformed the nation’s prison code in 2022, redefining all non-consensual intercourse as rape.
This authorized change got here in response to the case of an 18-year-old girl who was gang-raped by 5 males throughout the San Fermin bull-running competition in Pamplona.
Alves, now 41, was jailed following his arrest in January 2023. He remained in custody till March 2024, when he was launched on bail of 1 million euros (£853,000) whereas awaiting the end result of his enchantment.
