Catalonia’s top court on Thursday found former Brazil footballer Dani Alves guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022, sentencing him to four and a half years in prison.
The court also ordered that Alves pay 150,000 euros ($162,990) to the victim.
“The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent, and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven,” the court said in a statement.
Alves had maintained the sex was consensual. The prosecutor was seeking a nine-year prison term.
The 40-year-old former Barcelona defender was arrested in January last year and has been held on remand since.
The case has attracted significant attention not only because of Alves’ profile but because gender violence has become an increasingly dominant topic in Spain’s public discourse.
It is one of the most high-profile trials in Spain since a law passed in 2022 made consent a key element in sexual assault cases and increased minimum prison time for assaults involving violence.
Follow us on:
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has condemned the commercialisation of GMO seeds, warning of threats to Nigeria’s food…
Oleksandr Usyk has secured victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh, successfully defending his heavyweight championship…
Albania plans a one-year TikTok ban from January after a schoolboy’s death sparks concerns over…
A suspect accused of killing five people by driving into a crowded Christmas market in…
A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea by the…
NNPC has reduced petrol ex-depot price to N899 per litre, sparking competition with Dangote Refinery…