According to legal sources, the public ministry is already preparing the appeal against the ruling of the Barcelona Court that sentenced former player Dani Alves to four and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a young woman in a nightclub in Barcelona.
The Prosecutor’s Office will appeal the sentence in order to revoke the mitigating circumstance that reduced the sentence and increase the prison term for the Brazilian footballer. The Barcelona Court had imposed a sentence of four and a half years in prison, applying the mitigating circumstance of reparation for the more than $150,000 that Alves had handed over to compensate the victim.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution had opposed the application of this mitigating measure during the trial, arguing that it could be discriminatory to reduce the sentence based on the footballer’s economic capacity. The defense, on the other hand, continues to maintain that Alves had consensual sexual relations with the complainant and will also appeal the conviction.
The private prosecution filed by the victim also plans to appeal the ruling, as they believe that the mitigating circumstance for paying bail could unjustly benefit the accused. The case will now move forward with appeals from both the prosecution and the defense, as they seek to overturn or modify the sentence given to Dani Alves.