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:
Americans are headed to the polls to choose the next president in a tightly contested…
An Abuja court has struck out the case against #EndBadGovernance protesters as the AGF discontinued…
The UK has confirmed two more cases of the new mpox variant, clade Ib
Ekiti mourns as Chief Judge Justice Adeyeye dies, succumbing to injuries from a court building…
Boeing workers have accepted a new contract with a 38% raise, ending a seven-week strike…
Eight individuals are on trial in Paris, accused of inciting the murder of teacher Samuel…