00:03Olax Otis, who is also known as Caspar San Giorgi, was accused of causing more than £7,000 of damage
00:11by using red spray paints to cover the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square
00:17with phrases including Stop the Genocide and Free Palestine,
00:22describing Churchill as a Zionist war criminal
00:24and calling for former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to stand trial for war crimes.
00:30But he denied the criminal damage charge at trial,
00:34telling a jury he did not believe he had done anything criminal
00:37because he was sending a message to Parliament
00:40and he disputed that the washable paint had actually damaged the statue.
00:4539-year-old Mr San Giorgi was found not guilty at Sovacran Court on Monday afternoon.
00:51Mr San Giorgi said he believed that since the paint could be washed off the statue,
00:56he did no damage and his actions could not be criminal
01:00as he was quote-unquote preventing a crime with his protest.
01:04In the immediate aftermath of the incident,
01:07a representative of 10 Downing Street called the defacing of the statue completely abhorrent,
01:13adding Churchill was a Great Britain.
01:15They also said that this government will always stand up for the nation's values
01:21and the perpetrator must be held to account.
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