Spanish court annuls Dan Alves' sentence

Barcelona's former player, Dani Alves, won his appeal against a sexual assault sentence after a Spanish court annulled the verdict.

Alves was convicted in February 2024 of raping a woman at a nightclub in December 2022 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison, Express reports Periscope.

Brazil and Barcelona's former defender denied committing crime during the three-day trial.

The court announced the verdict Friday, saying there were insufficient “evidence” to reject the presumption of Alves' innocence.

The Alves trial was the first known case since the reform of Spain's laws in 2022 to favor a key element in determining sexual crime in response to a wave of protests after a gang-rapy case during the San Fermin bull run festival in Pamplona in 2016.

The law, popularly known as the “law, is just saying yes to”, defines consent as an exclusive expression of one's will, making it clear that silence or inactivity are not equal to consent.

But the four judges of a Barcelona-based appeals court decided unanimously to annul the sentence.

In their decision, they wrote that the prosecution's testimony “significantly distinguished” from the evidence of video recordings taken before the wife and Alves entered the bathroom, where she said he forced her to have sex without her consent.

Alves, now 41-year-old, was held in prison from January 2023 to March 2024, when he was released after paying $1.2m for guarantees while awaiting his appeal.

He also handed over his passports after prosecutors argued against his release with guarantees due to the possible risk of escape.

Prosecutors demanded that his sentence increase to nine years, while the victim's lawyer demanded that he remain in prison for 12 years.

This decision may be appealed to the High Court of Spain in Madrid.

Alves was one of his generation's most successful players and won dozens of titles with elite clubs, including Barcelona, Juventu and Paris Saint-Germain.

It also helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal at the age of 38.

He played in his third World Cup, the only great title he did not win, in 2022. He played for Barcelona from 2008 to 2016, helping the team win three champion and six Spanish leagues, and briefly returned to the club in 2022. He still has a flat near the city.

He was with the Mexican Pumas club when he was arrested. Pumas immediately interrupted his contract.