The Barcelona Public Prosecution Service appealed on Wednesday (7) against the decision that acquitted former player Daniel Alves from the charges of rape. The case will now be analyzed by the Supreme Court of Spain, a maximum instance of the Spanish justice, after the Catalonia Superior Court annulled the athlete’s conviction in February 2024.
Catalan prosecutors argue that he “morally condemned her” the woman who denounced the former player, and question the grounds of the decision that resulted in acquittal. According to the prosecution, the victim’s testimony, considered “not reliable” by the Catalan Court, was disqualified without proper confrontation with other available evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA and recordings of nightclub security cameras where the alleged crime would have occurred.
The case involves the complaint of a Spanish young woman, who said she was the victim of rape by Alves in December 2022, in a VIP area of a nightclub in Barcelona. The former player was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in February 2024, but the Catalonia Superior Court annulled the sentence, pointing out “gaps and inaccuracies” in the decision of the first instance.
Daniel Alves, who became imprisoned for more than a year and was released after paying 1 million euros, supported throughout the process that the relationship was consensual. However, he presented three different versions of what happened, which raised doubts in the initial judgment. The victim, in turn, kept the same version of the facts from the beginning.
With the appeal of the prosecution, the Supreme Court of Spain will be responsible for giving a final word about the case, reviewing the arguments of the prosecution, defense and previous decision of the Catalan Court.
