Prosecutors in Spain appeal Dani Alves' acquittal of rape due to "cruel and arbitrary" misinterpretation of evidence

Dani Alves, former Brazilian footballer at Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, was accused of raping a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona on December 30, 2022. After going into custody, he was found guilty of rape in a trial on February 2024, but was released from jail after paying a one million euros bail.

However, the case went upside down on March 28 this year, when the Supreme Court in Catalonia responded to Alves' appeal and overturned his conviction, because the court found that the case had one inconsistency regarding the biological evidence. This overturned his travel ban and restraining order and granted him a compensation payment.

Now, public prosecutor's office in Spain appeals the Catalan Supreme Court decision, defending the evidence that the court used to absolve Alves was a misinterpretation that contradicts the scientific report, is "arbitrary and cruel" and morally condemns the victim, who remains anonymous (via RTVE).

Specifically, the evidence that the court used to acquit Alves was that finding Alves' DNA in her mouth, believing to come from semen, when the accuser had said that there was no fellatio before the coitus. Prosecutors now argue that the DNA in her mouth could have come from other sources, like kisses or sharing a drink.

Prosecutors also remind that consent is revocable and the fact that the accuser entered the bathroom stall where the sexual intercourse occurred with him does not mean that she was willing to do it, and does not takes out her credibility.