Brazilian soccer participant Dani Alves leaves the Brians 2 jail in Barcelona, Spain, on March 25, 2024. — Reuters
MADRID: The highest court docket in Spain’s Catalonia area on Friday overturned Brazilian soccer participant Dani Alves’ rape conviction, saying the case in opposition to him had inconsistencies and contradictions.
The 41-year-old defender was convicted final yr of raping a girl within the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in jail.
“Dani Alves is very happy. He is innocent, that is demonstrated. Justice has spoken,” Ines Guardiola, lawyer for the previous Barcelona, PSG and Juventus participant, informed RAC1 radio.
The case has gripped Spain the place ladies’s rights have change into a extremely delicate nationwide subject, particularly within the sports activities world after the scandal over former soccer chief Luis Rubiales’ undesirable kissing of nationwide crew participant Jenni Hermoso in 2023.
In its unanimous enchantment ruling, the four-judge Catalan excessive court docket mentioned the accuser’s testimony lacked reliability over info that might be objectively verified by video, “explicitly indicating that what she recounted does not correspond to reality”.
“The inadequacies of the evidence lead to the conclusion that the standard required by the presumption of innocence has not been met,” it mentioned, noting “a series of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions concerning the facts, the legal assessment and its consequences”.
The accuser’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, informed reporters she would enchantment the choice earlier than Spain’s Supreme Courtroom, which might take a yr to be resolved. She mentioned the method was emotionally taxing for her shopper because of the intense media consideration on the case.
The regional prosecutor’s workplace declined to touch upon the ruling.
Alves had already been launched from jail on a 1 million euro ($1.1 million) bail whereas awaiting the enchantment. Now he’s free to go away Spain after the court docket overturned a journey ban, restraining order and compensation fee.
The court docket mentioned that the alleged sufferer’s argument that she went with Alves into the restroom for worry that his associates may observe them didn’t seem affordable, concluding that she as a substitute “voluntarily went to the bathroom area for the purpose of being with the defendant in a more intimate space”.
It added that CCTV footage didn’t enable to deduce whether or not she consented to the next interplay or not.
Reactions
Whereas some Spaniards mentioned the judges ought to be trusted, others expressed unease with the ruling and its potential implications for girls accusing males of energy.
Justice Minister Felix Bolanos mentioned the ruling have to be revered and he couldn’t individually assess info already reviewed by judges. However he added: “Spanish society no longer tolerates sexist vexatious behaviour and women are losing their fear and denouncing it.”
Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz, nonetheless, got here out in solidarity with Alves’ accuser, whose id has not been made public. “All my support to the victim. I’m concerned about the re-victimisation of the victim, who is suffering a lot. Justice needs to walk hand in hand with women and provide certainty and security.”
Irene Montero, who was Spain’s equality minister when Alves was first indicted, criticised the ruling as “patriarchal justice.” “Only yes means yes,” she added, referring to a authorized reform she spearheaded establishing absence of consent as a primary criterion for figuring out intercourse offences.
