LLEIDA, Spain (AP) – A rapper in Spain and dozens of his supporters locked themselves in a university building on Monday in the artist’s latest attempt to avoid jail time for insulting the country’s monarchy and praising terrorism.
The case of 32-year-old Pablo Hasél has received increasing attention in Spain and has been linked to the government’s sudden announcement to amend a national law that would restrict freedom of expression. More than 200 artists, including film director Pedro Almodóvar and actor Javier Bardem, signed a petition last week in support of the rapper.
The artist, whose real name is Pablo Rivadulla Duró, has to serve a nine-month sentence from 2018 for tweets and songs he posted between 2014 and 2016 criticizing the Spanish royal family and a now-defunct Spanish left-wing armed extremist. group praised. .
“I won’t let them tell me what to think, feel or say,” Hasél told The Associated Press late Monday. “This is an extra incentive for me to keep writing the same songs.”
Best known for his often radical criticism of the establishment, he has had previous convictions for assaulting and praising armed extremist groups, although he has not spent time behind bars after a previous two-year sentence was suspended.
This time, his incarceration seemed imminent. The country’s National Court issued a warrant for his arrest Monday after a 10-day period for him to voluntarily go to prison had passed on Friday.
But the artist said he wouldn’t go without showing resistance and drawing attention to his case. On Monday, Hasél, accompanied by about 50 supporters, barricaded himself in the rectoral building of the University of Lleida, in the region of Northeast Catalonia.
The police need special permission – which has been granted in this case – from academic authorities to enter university buildings, which have been protests in the past.
Defiantly, the rapper tweeted, “They will have to break in to pick me up and imprison me.”
He told the AP that Monday’s events were “a call to organize our solidarity and take the pressure off the streets.”
“There is a lot of solidarity from people who understand that this is not just an attack on me,” Hasél added. “But also against our fundamental democratic freedoms. Freedoms that are constantly suppressed by the state. When faced with aggression against us, we must provide a collective response. “
Spain’s left-wing coalition government unexpectedly announced last week that it would amend the country’s criminal code to scrap prison sentences for crimes related to freedom of expression. It did not specifically mention Hasél or set a timetable for the changes.
The proposal is rejected by the conservative opposition Popular Party and the far-right Vox Party.
Changes to the code under a new public security law, known as the “Gag Law”, were made in 2015 by the then Popular Party government and have long been rejected by human rights groups and international organizations for allowing freedom of expression in the name. possibly limit. protection of state and religious institutions.
“The capture of Pablo Hasél leaves the sword above the heads of all public figures who dare to openly criticize the actions of state institutions, all the more clearly,” the artist’s petition read.
“We are aware that if we allow Pablo to be jailed, they can come after us tomorrow until they manage to silence every sigh of dissent,” he added.
The Spanish branch of Amnesty International has also defended Hasél and urged the government to pass legislative changes. In a statement last week, the international rights action group pointed to other social media users, journalists and artists who have been similarly convicted in the past.
“Statements that do not clearly and directly incite violence cannot be criminalized,” said AI department director Esteban Beltrán.
Ciarán Giles and Aritz Parra in Madrid also contributed.