Ghent, Belgium (AP) – A Belgian court reiterated Tuesday that Spanish rapper Valtonik should not be extradited to Spain, where he was sentenced to prison for writing songs praising terrorist groups and writing of insulting poems about the royal family.
The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jose Miguel Arena Beltran and has been living on the move in Belgium since 2018, faces a total of three and a half years in prison in Spain.
Francis Clarice, a Ghent prosecutor, told The Associated Press that prosecutors now have 24 hours to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Belgian Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation. A Spanish court on Tuesday denied a fourth extradition request.
Clarice said the latest appeal was declared “unfounded, meaning extradition is impossible”.
Walton’s case has become popular in Spain with organizations claiming that the Spanish government violates free speech.
The Palma de Mallorca singer and songwriter has been jailed for songs he wrote at the age of 18 believed to praise terrorist groups, threatening a Spanish politician with violence and insulting the royal family.
During his trials in Spain, the courts rejected Arenas ’argument that the meaning of rap poems is provocative and that they should be protected by free speech laws.
Human rights groups and activists cited Waltonika’s case as an example of a broader legal and political dispute over freedom of expression, blaming prosecutors for overreacting to anyone who “glorifies terrorism” or who insult to the crown.
Source: Huffpost
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