Ex-Barcelona star Dani Alves cleared of rape charges after spending time in prison

There's a new development in the Dani Alves case as the appeals chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia has cleared the former Brazilian footballer of the sexual assault charge for which he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by the Audiencia de Barcelona, per Marca.

The appeals court unanimously overturned the original sentence, stating that it had evaluative deficits that made it impossible to agree with the assessment of the court of first instance or the conclusion it reaches.

The criminal chamber of the regional high court, made up of three women and one man, unanimously decided that the testimony of the young woman who accused the former Barcelona footballer in December 2022 was not enough to support the conviction.

They said that, in this case, the right to the presumption of innocence must take priority. The judges pointed out that not accepting the prosecution's version of events does not mean that the true version is that maintained by the defence of the accused.

The Barcelona Court had previously found, based on the victim's statement, that the former defender had non-consensual sexual relations with a young woman in a bathroom at a popular nightclub in the upper part of Barcelona.

READ ALSO: How Benjamin Asare went from not having Trotro fare to becoming Ghana’s number one

However, they also noted some mismatch between the victim's account and the footage from the cameras. Despite this, the court had still concluded that the lack of consistency did not impact Alves' behaviour, nor did it question the victim's credibility.

New ruling by court

But now, the Catalan High Court has ruled that the victim's testimony alone is not enough to overturn the presumption of innocence of the former Brazilian international.

The court, made up of judges Maria Àngels Vivas, Roser Bach, Maria Jesus Manzano, and judge Manuel Alvarez, disagreed with the conviction of the court of first instance, pointing out several gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the reasoning, legal assessment, and consequences of the original ruling.

The court has rejected the appeals from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which had called for part of the sentence to be annulled and, if necessary, an increase in the sentence to nine years, as well as the private prosecution's appeal, which had asked for a 12-year sentence.

The court has acquitted the accused, made the precautionary measures imposed on him ineffective, and declared the procedural costs to be covered by the state.

MUST READ: LeBron James bashes journalist for wearing Manchester United jacket (Video)

Dani Alves had spent over a year in provisional prison before being released after posting bail of one million euros.

Read Full Story