Daniel Alves was sentenced this Thursday to four and a half years in prison, plus five years of supervised release, by the Barcelona court. Accused of the rape of a 23-year-old woman in the toilets of the VIP lounge of a nightclub in the Catalan capital, Sutton, on the night of December 30 to 31, 2022, the Brazilian player was summoned to court on February 22 to hear the verdict of his trial, held from February 5 to 7.
“The judges considered that the victim did not consent and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the complainant, allowing the rape to be considered proven”, the judges clarified this Thursday. The former full-back will also have to pay 150,000 euros to the victim, who “no longer sleeps, takes medication and now barely leaves the house”according to his cousin’s statements during the trial.
“The court considers as proven the fact that the accused suddenly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the ground and penetrated her vaginally, preventing her from moving, while the complainant said no and wanted go away “added the court this Thursday.
The prosecution had requested nine years in prison
“I am not a violent man”, defended Daniel Alves, ex-player of Barça, Paris-SG and Juventus, during his trial, ensuring that the sexual relationship with the complainant was consensual. The player had asked to be exonerated or, failing that, to be sentenced to only one year in prison, a sentence already served given that he had been incarcerated on a preventive basis since January 20, 2023 and that all requests for release under bail had been rejected.
The Brazilian, who had given five different versions concerning the alleged facts, insisting on his state of intoxication during that night preceding New Year’s Eve, knowing that if alcohol was considered by the judges as an attenuating circumstance, his sentence could not exceed six years of imprisonment. At the end of the trial, the prosecution requested nine years in prison, while the plaintiff’s lawyers requested twelve. Both parties now have the opportunity to appeal.