Dani Alves Sentenced To 4.5 Years In Prison For Rape Case

Dani Alves was jailed 4.5 years for rape (Instagram/@danialves).

JAKARTA Former Barcelona star Dani Alves has been officially sentenced to prison for four and a half years following the rape case.

Catalunya's highest court found the Brazilian football star guilty of raping a woman at a nightclub in Barcelona in 2022.

"The sentence considers that the victim has proven to disagree and that there is evidence, in addition to the plaintiff's testimony, to consider the rape proven," the court said in a statement quoted by RTE.

The four-year sentence is lighter than the prosecutor's demands. The prosecutor previously demanded a sentence of nine years in prison.

In addition to four and a half years in prison, the court also demanded that Alves pay 150 thousand Euros or Rp 2.5 billion to the victim.

Alves insists that sex is carried out on a consensual basis.

The former 40-year-old was arrested in January 2023. He has also been detained since the arrest.

This case has attracted significant attention not only because of Alves' profile, but also gender violence. This issue has become a topic that is increasingly dominant in Spanish public discourse.

Dani Alves trial is one of Spain's most famous trials since the law passed in 2022.

The law makes the consent of sexual relations a key element in cases of sexual violence and increases the minimum prison sentence for attacks that use violence.