Dani Alves sentenced to four years and six months for sexual assault

Dani Alves sentenced to four years and six months for sexual assault

Brazilian footballer Dani Alves was sentenced to four years and six months for sexual assault by section 12 of the Barcelona court, made up of three magistrates. The player, former Barcelona and Juventus player among others, together with his lawyer, Inés Guardiola, the public prosecutor, Elisabet Jiménez, and the prosecutor, Ester García, learned the sentence first hand this morning, according to Spanish media reports . The trial ended on February 7, after three long hearings, and the judges' decision came 15 days later.

The facts, to which the sentence refers, occurred in a stand of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona, ​​​​on the night between 30 and 31 December 2022. Dani Alves entered prison on 20 January 2023, and is in the center Can Brians 2 penitentiary for just over a year. The footballer changed his initial story and always maintained that the relationships were consensual, while the girl who reported him has always maintained her statement.

The Brazilian faced a maximum sentence of twelve years according to article 179 of the Penal Code. The Prosecutor's Office had asked for nine and the public prosecution had requested a maximum of twelve. Alcohol, as Articles 20 and 21 state, could have been considered a mitigating substance. The sentence, however, does not put an end to the Dani Alves case. After the decision of the Barcelona Court, the Brazilian footballer's defense will still be able to appeal to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia and, subsequently and if the verdict remains unfavorable, to the Supreme Court. Provisional release has, until now, been systematically denied by the court due, in its opinion, to the player's high risk of flight.