by 4 years and 6 months, The conviction of Dani Alves. Considering that he already has a year of preventive detention, it will not be too late when he will be able to ask for permission and set foot on the street. Yeah, In part, the ruling can be interpreted as a triumph of the feminist movement. Her argument regarding the lack of consent, the revocation of consent at any time, that physical injuries are not necessary (although she had damage to her knees), that there is not only testimony but consistent peripheral evidence, that her testimony is solid, and that there is no spurious motive on the victim. Not even the financial one, since not even Alves’ money made the victim reach an agreement before the trial. But just that, the money contributed has served as a key to closer freedom.
Victory is an average. The victim did not want to report for fear of not being believed. And they have believed her. The mitigating circumstance of drunkenness is also not supported. But there is also reparation for damage, linked to punishment. And here she has gone down. The minimum she could be given was four years. Far from the 12 years requested by the victim’s defense and the nine by the Prosecutor’s Office. Among the justification for this minimum is the mitigating factor of repairing the damage for the 150,000 euros that Dani Alves contributed before the trial. 150,000 euros which for him, a millionaire, must mean pocket change. It came out cheap. As happens on other occasions. I remember not so long ago a considerable reduction in sentence for an attack on a minor with a disability and whose attacker paid 50 euros.
With Alves, in the end there has been neither maximum penalty nor acquittal. Two messages left. For them, that aggressors with power and fame must face justice like those who do not have full pockets. That his fame no longer pays for innocence. But yes, fame and money still help them pay for an easier and shorter path to freedom.
For the victim, You will not be able to close the page before the next resources. There will be those who say that four years of deprivation of liberty are enough. Maybe I would also invite them to go to a victim center. And they will see that the damages and the personal and professional impact on them for an entire life, due to a sexual assault, are not covered by 150,000 euros nor is that pain compensated by four years.
