Dani Alves acquitted by Catalonia’s Excessive Courtroom after spending over a 12 months in jail
Credit score : Shutterstock, Christian Bertrand
Former Barcelona footballer Dani Alves has been acquitted of sexual assault by the Excessive Courtroom of Catalonia (TSJC), which overturned a earlier ruling that sentenced him to 4 and a half years in jail.
The choice got here after the court docket discovered the accuser’s testimony to be inconsistent and unreliable.
The case revolved round allegations that Alves assaulted a younger girl at Sutton nightclub in Barcelona in December 2022. Whereas the sooner ruling accepted her model of occasions, the enchantment judges—three ladies and one man—unanimously concluded that the unique verdict didn’t uphold the presumption of innocence.
Judges spotlight inconsistencies and lack of stable proof
The court docket was particularly vital of how the sooner conviction was reached, noting gaps, contradictions and discrepancies within the complainant’s account. Surveillance footage from the membership and forensic experiences reportedly didn’t assist key parts of her story.
The enchantment judges said that it was unacceptable for the unique court docket to deal with the complainant’s account of non-consensual vaginal penetration as credible, whereas on the identical time acknowledging that lots of her different claims didn’t align with actuality. The panel referred to as this a “logical leap” unsupported by the proof.
Alves had spent 430 days in jail earlier than being launched on bail in March 2024. The court docket’s choice additionally dismissed appeals from the general public prosecutor, who had pushed for a nine-year sentence, and from the non-public prosecution, which needed a 12-year sentence.
Outcry over impression on victims and girls’s voices
The ruling has sparked a wave of reactions throughout Spain. Equality Minister Ana Redondo expressed concern with out instantly criticising the court docket, saying the decision dangers reinforcing the concept “a person’s phrase holds extra weight than a girl’s” in sexual violence circumstances.
“We should ask ourselves as a society whether or not we’re actually valuing the voice of girls,” she stated, whereas stressing the significance of respecting judicial choices.
Different ministers, together with Vice-President María Jesús Montero and Justice Minister Félix Bolaños, referred to as for prudence and centered on the necessity for higher coaching for judges coping with sexual violence circumstances.
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