DANI ALVES’ wife has revealed she felt that she was the one in the dock after following the overturning of the footballer’s rape conviction.
The Tenerife-born beauty urged the trolls who targeted her to “quit venting their hate”; against people they don’t know in a hard-hitting social media post shortly after learning the former Barcelona star was in the clear.
Four Catalan High Court judges said in a 101-page written ruling released on Friday cancelling out Alves’ conviction and four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for raping a woman in a VIP toilet at Barcelona’s Sutton nightclub in the early hours of December 31 2022: “It cannot be concluded that the standards required by the presumption of innocence have been met.”;
They also branded his female accuser an “unreliable complainant”; based on video evidence and part of her own testimony.
Alves‘ accuser plans to launch a last-ditch appeal to Spain’s Supreme Court after her lawyer’s previous attempts to get the former defender jailed for 12 years on conviction.
The 41-year-old Brazil international spent 14 months on remand in prison ahead of trial before being released on bail.
Despite the impending appeal, Joana decided to break her silence as she lashed out at those who questioned her decision to support her husband of nearly eight years.
She gave him a second chance despite admitting she was seeking a divorce following his arrest in January 2023 – and two months ago posted a photo taken in their car of them interlocking hands next to a bouquet of flowers.
In her Instagram post, published alongside a smiling selfie of her with her eyes closed, Joana said: “I was singled out, insulted, threatened and persecuted for two years. As if I were the one in the dock.
“Despite so much media/public damage, I am still standing, not lacking work as so many wanted it to happen, faithful to my beliefs and defending what I think without being intoxicated by others.”;
Sending a direct message to the Internet trolls and other critics who attacked her over her decision to stand by her man, she added: “‘I invite you to stop venting your hatred on people you know nothing about.
“To get informed and educated, so you don't have to bite your tongue, which sometimes poisons.”;
She finished her message with the sarcastic words, “Feliz vida” – which in English translates to “Happy life”.
The couple were pictured hand-in-hand in April last year in the first snap of them together in public after Alves’ trial.
They also took advantage of their day out in the sunshine to eat at an exclusive restaurant in Barcelona city centre and go shopping.
Sanz revealed shortly after Alves' arrest she had demanded a divorce after he admitted for the first time to having sex with the woman he was found guilty of raping at Barcelona’s Audiencia Provincial Court.
She later said the divorce had been put on hold and she gave evidence on Alves’ behalf at his trial from February 5 to 7 last year.
Alves had to pay a £850,000 bail bond to secure his release and hand in his Spanish and Brazilian passports after being allowed to leave a Barcelona prison after he appealed his lower court conviction.
He ordered take-away hamburgers on his first night of freedom.
Reacting to the appeal judges’ decision to clear him, fans of Joana and Dani Alves offered the couple their support online.
One said: “The truth always wins, we love you Dani.”;
Another added: “Now who will cancel out all the suffering you experienced.
“Make sure you enjoy the rest of your lives.”;
But Spain‘s former Equality Minister Irene Montero, who is now an MEP for hard-left party Podemos, has accused the appeal court judges of dispensing “patriarchal justice.”
