Spanish prosecutors introduced Wednesday they may enchantment a court docket choice that overturned Dani Alves’ rape conviction – a ruling that sparked criticism from the federal government and ladies’s rights teams.
Alves, a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona, was sentenced to 4 and a half years in jail final yr for raping a younger girl in a VIP lavatory at a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.
However, a Barcelona appeals court docket overturned the conviction on Friday, citing inconsistencies and contradictions within the trial and ruling that the proof was inadequate to show his guilt.
The appeals court docket stated the accuser was an “unreliable complainant” as a result of her testimony “differed notably” from video proof taken earlier than she and Alves entered the lavatory, the place she alleges he compelled her to have intercourse with out her consent.
The public prosecutor’s workplace in Catalonia stated in a press release that it intends to enchantment the ruling however didn’t present additional particulars.
Hundreds of individuals rallied in Barcelona on Monday towards the appeals court docket’s choice in an illustration organized by feminist teams. Many carried indicators calling the ruling “unacceptable” and demanding its reversal.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Jesus Montero stated Saturday that it was a “shame” the testimony of a rape sufferer “is still being questioned” and that “the presumption of innocence is said to take precedence over the testimony of young, brave women.”
She apologized Tuesday, saying she didn’t imply to “call into question the presumption of innocence” however reaffirmed her perception that the appeals court docket’s choice to overturn Alves’ conviction was “a step backward.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a self-described feminist, has made the combat towards sexual violence a precedence.
His minority authorities reformed the nation’s prison code in 2022 to outline all nonconsensual intercourse as rape, responding to the case of an 18-year-old girl who was gang-raped by 5 males in the course of the San Fermin bull-running pageant in Pamplona.
Alves, now 41, was jailed after his arrest in January 2023 and remained in custody till March 2024, when he was launched pending enchantment after posting the €1 million ($1.1 million) bail set by the courts.
Source: www.dailysabah.com