Valtònyc rap returns to Mallorca after five years of exile
- The Mallorcan singer Josep Miquel Arenas Beltrán, ‘Valtònyc’ rap, was sentenced by the Spanish Supreme Court to three years and six months in jail on charges of “praising terrorism” in his songs and “insulting” the Spanish crown. He fled to Belgium and returned home because the punishment prescribed.
Your family and friends welcome you at the airport of Mallorca and in your town of Sineu. He has also had journalists. It says that it is a pity that the sanction was returned by prescription and not by self-criticism from the Spanish State. It recognises that the five-year exile in Brussels has been very hard, but that the fight for freedom over these years has been worth it.
Support for freedom of expression
At the trial, the singer-songwriter rap said that his rapa is extreme, provocative, allegorical and symbolic, and addressed freedom of expression. However, the Supreme dismissed all his allegations and said it was enough to read the songs to "become aware of the seriousness of the contents".
The Supreme Court confirmed at the end of February 2018 the judgment against Valton. In March, Saioa Baleztena interviewed ARGIA. She was awaiting the prison order and the request for pardon to shorten the sentence was rejected.
Journalist Baleztena asked why he refused to ask for pardon: “To begin with, because I think I have done nothing wrong and the pardon itself has recognition of guilt. My job and hobby is to write songs and I have only used freedom of expression and creative rights. On the other hand, for pardon it would be essential to argue that in Spain there is no violation of freedom of expression. Obviously, I am not prepared to say so.”
Concerning the health of freedom of expression, he noted: “Freedom of expression is a debate that a fairly mature democratic society should face. It is clear that Spain is neither democratic nor an adult. It therefore violates freedom of expression when we insult sufficiently protected oppressors. The main problem is that they put at the same level, for example, insults against the powerful and insults to victims of racism or LGBTI who objectively suffer from social exclusion.”
To read the full interview: "Our work is being used to spread the culture of fear"
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