PROSECUTORS are to appeal a four and a half year jail sentence handed down to ex-Barcelona footballer Dani Alves after he was convicted of raping a woman in a night club.
A Barcelona court gave the Brazilian player, 40, a lesser jail term because of the mitigating factor that he was going to pay the victim €150,000 in compensation if he was convicted.
The Prosecutor’s Office wants the mitigation aspect revoked so that the prison sentence can be extended.
The woman was assaulted in a bathroom of the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona back in December 2022.
During the trial, both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution on behalf of the victim opposed the mitigating circumstance of reparation.
They stated that it was an amount that the investigating judge set as possible bail for Alves when she initially heard the case, with the football star remaining in custody.
The defence subsequently asked on several occasions that it be handed over to the victim. who has not accepted the sum.
Another argument is that applying a mitigating circumstance to Alves for having paid the €150,000 bail may be discriminatory, as it was something his favour due to his substantial financial resources.
The private prosecution exercised by the victim also plans to appeal the conviction, as does the player’s defence team, which will again insist on his acquittal as he continues to maintain that he had consensual sexual relations with the complainant.
Alves’ lawyer has again asked for him to be bailed pending an appeal ruling from the Catalunya High Court- arguing that he has been in prison for more than a year and has already served a quarter of the sentence imposed, adding that he does not pose a flight risk.
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