Violent protests over rapper’s arrest and police brutality allegations propound Catalonia for the fifth day

Mossos arrested 34 people on Saturday, bringing the total for the week to nearly 100.

Hasel himself was detained on Tuesday after Catalan riot police stormed the university of Lledia, near Barcelona, ​​where the rapper and his supporters had barricaded themselves.

Video of the arrest shows the defiant rapper shouting, “You will never beat us! You will never overcome us, we will resist until we triumph.”

Hasel had until February 12 to turn himself in to the police after the Spanish Supreme Court in May 2020 upheld a lower court conviction against the rapper, whose full name is Pablo Rivadulla Duro, in March 2018.

The conviction was for supporting terrorism, as well as libel and slander against the Spanish monarchy, through his social media posts, according to a copy of the court’s verdict and a statement from the Supreme Court. He was sentenced to nine months in prison.

The Spanish government announced last week that it would abolish prison sentences for offenses related to freedom of expression, but it is not clear when the changes will be made.

“How can you put someone in prison for expressing their ideas?” Galofré said when asked why she was present on Saturday evening.

“I disagree with looting, and there are always people who will use social movements to create chaos,” said Galofré. “The protests were peaceful until the police intervened.”

In Galofré’s hometown of Sabadell, a city north of Barcelona, ​​demonstrations were passive and without incident, she added.

A much smaller demonstration took place in the Spanish capital of Madrid, where about 100 people sang for Hasel’s freedom.

Five nights of protests

Joan Colet, a 16-year-old student, protested in Plaça de Catalunya on Saturday evening and watched people break away from the main rally group and start looting.

“A lot of people are taking advantage, they are not here to protest,” he told CNN. “They have different motives.”

Police beat some protesters with batons and fired foam balls at others, Colet said, adding that the barricades protesters had set up were for protection.

“We are tired of people going to jail for just writing something on social media,” he said. “This is about Pablo’s freedom, but also about Spanish freedom and freedom of speech.”

“In a full democracy, and the democracy in Spain is a full democracy, the use of force is unacceptable. There is no exception to this rule,” he said at a news conference. “There is no reason, place, or situation that can justify the use of force.”

Reports of police brutality

When contacted by CNN, Mossos said the person who tried to help Cornellà had a criminal record and that he pushed one of the officers when he intervened in the arrest.

A woman was injured in her eye after a projectile hit her Tuesday, said photojournalist Àngel García, who captured the scene.

“I was in front of the riot police when they fired,” he told CNN over the phone on Saturday. “I turned to see a woman with her hand over her eyes, covered in blood.”

García said the woman was hit by a rubber police bullet and lost her eye, which CNN could not independently verify.

Responding to a request from CNN for comment, Mossos said his troops only use foam balls in maintaining law and order. It is currently investigating the incident.

“The police have been rude,” said Oriol Estival, a 22-year-old geography student at the University of Barcelona who attended the protests. “There was massive police intimidation and unjustified arrests of people who did nothing.”

Estival said people looted the shops of luxury fashion brands, but said most of the attendees were peaceful. Like Galofré, he said he protested not only against Hasel’s arrest, but also against police brutality and ‘the rise of the far right and fascism in Catalonia’.