Spain to end the gag on freedom of expression
February 12, 2021 By Abiodun Giwa
Pablo Hasel
The jailing of a rapper in Spain for praising terrorism and insulting Spanish institutions has opened the door for public condemnation of a hard decision against the rapper. Now the government is reforming the criminal code to ensure any critical statement about government such as the one made by the rapper do not attract prison terms.
According to the news report by El Pais, the imminent imprisonment of Rapper Pablo Hasel to serve a sentence for praising terrorism and insulting Spanish institutions on social media has become a new source of friction within Spain’s center-left governing coalition.
Hasél was reportedly ordered to report to prison to serve nine months and one day, after the Supreme Court confirmed a conviction finding him guilty of glorifying terrorism and insulting the Crown and state institutions, the news report said. But following artists that included a filmmaker named Pedro Almodóvar signed a petition defending the rapper, the government announced a planning towards reforming the criminal code, which would end prison terms for crimes involving freedom of expression.
The opposition's against the jailing of Hasel says that “the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél makes the sword hanging over the heads of all public figures who dare to openly criticize the actions of state institutions all the more evident. We are aware that if we allow Pablo to be jailed, tomorrow they could come after any one of us, until they have managed to stifle any whisper of dissidence.”
The issue about the freedom of expression in Spain, government's gag of the freedom, and the infringement of the law leveled against Hasel, is not without the role of the Social Media. The report says that Hásel’s conviction is based on 64 messages he published on Twitter between 2014 and 2016 and a song he shared on YouTube.
Hasel is reported in one message from March 2016 that he posted a photograph of Victoria Gómez, a member of a left-wing terrorist group named GRAPO, with the message: “Demonstrations are necessary but not enough. Let us support those who took things further.”
According to the news report by El Pais, the imminent imprisonment of Rapper Pablo Hasel to serve a sentence for praising terrorism and insulting Spanish institutions on social media has become a new source of friction within Spain’s center-left governing coalition.
Hasél was reportedly ordered to report to prison to serve nine months and one day, after the Supreme Court confirmed a conviction finding him guilty of glorifying terrorism and insulting the Crown and state institutions, the news report said. But following artists that included a filmmaker named Pedro Almodóvar signed a petition defending the rapper, the government announced a planning towards reforming the criminal code, which would end prison terms for crimes involving freedom of expression.
The opposition's against the jailing of Hasel says that “the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél makes the sword hanging over the heads of all public figures who dare to openly criticize the actions of state institutions all the more evident. We are aware that if we allow Pablo to be jailed, tomorrow they could come after any one of us, until they have managed to stifle any whisper of dissidence.”
The issue about the freedom of expression in Spain, government's gag of the freedom, and the infringement of the law leveled against Hasel, is not without the role of the Social Media. The report says that Hásel’s conviction is based on 64 messages he published on Twitter between 2014 and 2016 and a song he shared on YouTube.
Hasel is reported in one message from March 2016 that he posted a photograph of Victoria Gómez, a member of a left-wing terrorist group named GRAPO, with the message: “Demonstrations are necessary but not enough. Let us support those who took things further.”
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