Barcelona Prosecution Appeals Alves Case, Calls for Higher Sentence

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Barcelona’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has chosen to appeal a Barcelona Court of Appeal ruling that found Brazilian footballer Dani Alves guilty of sexual assault and sentenced him to four and a half years in prison. The public prosecutor argues that the sentence should be increased, contending that the reduction for damage repair should not apply because Alves deposited 150,000 euros to compensate the emotional injuries suffered by the victim in the assault that occurred in the early hours of December 30 to 31, 2022, inside the Sutton nightclub bathrooms in Barcelona.

In parallel, Alves’s defense plans a counter-appeal with a different line of reasoning. The lawyer will maintain the position of innocence and assert that the acts were consensual. Additionally, a request will be made for Alves to remain on provisional release while awaiting a decision from the Catalan High Court on the appeals, mindful that there remains the possibility to further appeal to the Supreme Court.

Alves’s defense will also emphasize that the player has spent more than a year in prison and has already served a quarter of the sentence, highlighting that there is no flight risk. Consequently, they will seek his immediate release from custody.

The victim’s legal representative may also file a resource, aligned with the prosecution’s position, urging a higher prison term for Alves. On the very day the sentence became public, Ester García, the lawyer representing the injury victim, insisted that there was no meaningful financial or moral effort in the compensation Alves deposited. She stated that the payment cast doubt on the idea that the law’s mitigating factors apply equally to all, arguing that such considerations should not favor the privileged.

Parties have until March 9 to submit their appeals against the judgment, after which the Barcelona Court of Appeal will decide on the request to lift Alves’s imprisonment. The case, commonly referred to as the Alves affair, remains unresolved and subject to further judicial steps.

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