Charles Andrew Pittman, arrested during after a protest against the 1 October referendum judgment, is acquitted

The Urban Guard in Barcelona arrested Charles Andrew Pittman in the course of 18 October 2019 general strike, while he was near a demonstration, looking for material to recycle inside a dumpster. According to the agents, he was carrying inflammable material, and had the intention to burn the dumpster and a bin. Pittman was put in pre-trial detention and he stayed there for five months. The prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of six years in prison for the crimes of public disorders and damages in assets that are publicly or commonly owned or used through a fire and a fine and disqualification. It addition, they requested the prison sentence to be partially replaced for the expulsion of national territory, after serving three quarters of the sentence, without the possibility of returning for 8 years. It was further requested that he paid damages for the dumpster. Barcelona Criminal Court num. 2 acquits the defendant. The Court finds that in light of the evidence, mainly based on agents’ statements as witnesses does not suffice to run counter the defendant’s presumption of innocence.