No changes. The Barcelona Audience Court ratified the sentence of 2-year-sentence of 2 years, 4 months and 16 days for a young man from Empordà for a crime of coercion with the aggravating factors of hatred and superiority. Specifically, Joan is punished for having rebuked a small group of demonstrators in favour of King Felipe VI, during a visit to Barcelona in October 2020, and for having spray-painted a cross on a Spanish flag which a woman was wearing on her back, according to a sentence to which ElNacional.cat had access this Friday. Pro-Catalan independence legal organisation Alerta Solidària claimed the court upheld the sentence despite "contradictions" between the versions and that if nothing changes, Joan will not benefit from the Catalan pro-independence amnesty law, now being renegotiated, because initially the coercion offence was not included.
The Empordà resident denies all the accusations and his lawyer, Norma Pedemonte, announced they will appeal to the Spanish Supreme Court against the ruling. The Barcelona court backed the judge of Barcelona's Criminal Court number 27, who prioritised the version given by the Catalan police officers and the woman and not the defendant's, arguing that "there are no errors in the assessment of the facts is correct" in the first ruling.
No spray cans seized
The events took place on October 9th 2020 in Pla de Palau, Barcelona, where Joan took part in the protest against king Felipe VI, along with about 500 other people. About 10 people, including the woman, assisted to show support to the king, but they were rebuked by another small group of Catalan pro-independence supporters, which Joan is said to have been a part of. In the end, the woman and the other 10 persons decided to leave, at which point the pro-independence supporters sprayed them, and agents of the Catalan police (Mossos) protected and accompanied them. The Empordà resident and some of his friends were later identified by the police.
In its ruling, section 21 of the Barcelona Court accepted to remove from the proven facts only that Joan "pushed and kicked" the woman, as stated by two Mossos officers, but not by the woman herself. Besides this, however, it finds the Catalan police officer's version more credible. In it, Joan is identified as the person who spray-painted a cross on the flag being carried by the woman was carrying, and on a car of the Barcelona police (Guàrdia Urbana), although the spray cans were not submitted as evidence in court, nor was anything seized, according to Joan's lawyer. The court also states that he shouted "get out you fascist and Puta Espanya [damn Spain]".
Two aggravating circumstances
Given the proven facts, the court stated it was right to apply the aggravating circumstance of ideological discrimination because with his attitude "he wanted to impede the freedom of demonstration" of the woman and the rest of the people who were with her.
The Court also accepted the aggravating circumstance of superiority, although those who approached the Spaniards were a small group. Joan's defence insists that the pro-King group left of their own free will. The two aggravating factors are the ones that cause the sentence to be increased to over two years, which could lead to Joan's imprisonment.
Alerta Solidària's reactions
Alerta Solidària questions the two aggravating circumstances, stating that there was discrimination because "they were two groups with opposing political convictions: monarchists and republicans". It also denies the greater power charge, which they claim was added due to "the arbitrary statements of some officers" because there was almost the same number of people in both groups. In addition, the organisation is suspicious of how fast Joan's case was processed, due to the long-standing delays in processing cases by the Barcelona Court. The ruling by the judge of court number 27 is dated October 13th 2023. An appeal was lodged and the Barcelona Court upheld his conviction on February 8th. Now, an appeal to the Spanish Supreme Court will be lodged.