The Belgian Justice rejects the extradition of Valtonyc to Spain

The Belgian justice has decided this Tuesday to deny again the delivery to Spain of the Majorcan rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, better known as Valtònyc, after re-studying his case after the Court of Cassation ordered a repeat trial for insults to the Crown.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
18 May 2022 Wednesday 05:38
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The Belgian Justice rejects the extradition of Valtonyc to Spain

The Belgian justice has decided this Tuesday to deny again the delivery to Spain of the Majorcan rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, better known as Valtònyc, after re-studying his case after the Court of Cassation ordered a repeat trial for insults to the Crown.

The Ghent Court of Appeal has analyzed whether Belgian law is applicable to the crime of insulting the Crown after ruling out delivery for the crime of threats and glorification of terrorism, and has ruled in the same sense that it already did in previous occasions. This is the second time that this court has studied him, this time with a new composition, in which it has decided that the Majorcan will not be extradited.

The Prosecutor's Office, which represents the interests of Spain in the case, had 24 hours to decide whether to file an appeal, but has finally definitively abandoned its attempts to extradite the artist, sentenced to three and a half years in prison for praising terrorism, insulting the crown and threats.

One of the rapper's lawyers, the Belgian Simon Beckaert, has indicated that Valtònyc will not be extradited because it is considered that "the glorification of terrorism is not a crime in Belgium; and it does not constitute a crime according to the law." "Once again, the Court of Appeal has established that insulting the King is not a crime in Belgium either," he said.

Another of the lawyers, Gonzalo Boye, has highlighted that the court has dismissed the Prosecutor's appeal "completely" and has agreed with them on "all the points" that they raised. "Valtònyc is free to travel throughout Europe, except in Spain", concluded Boye, in statements to RAC1.

For his part, the Mallorcan artist, visibly moved after the victory, after four long years of process, recalled that he arrived in Belgium at the age of 24 and is now 28. "I decided to come here for a matter of fundamental rights and in the end that's how I have been, I have defended freedom of expression as much as I could, since I was 18 years old, when all this started," he explained.

Now the rapper has assured that he "wants to start living". "Now is the time to engage in politics, to demand that all those who have lived through this in the Spanish state stop suffering, and that Pablo Hásel be released from prison," he claimed.

Until now, the Belgian courts had twice rejected his extradition to Spain, however the Court of Cassation upheld the appeal of the Belgian Prosecutor's Office and ordered a repeat trial to check whether the conditions are met and there are arguments to reject the delivery.

Josep Miquel Arenas did not serve his sentence imposed by the National Court in 2017 because he fled from Spain in 2018, he started a legal battle from Belgium, based on the defense of rights and freedoms with the same lawyers as the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont .

A year after the conviction, the Supreme Court ratified it by rejecting that Valtònyc's performance was protected by freedom of expression and artistic creation, but that his songs included expressions of support and praise for the terrorist organizations GRAPO, ETA, and some of its members, as well as phrases against the Crown and the president of the Balearic Circle, Jorge Campos.

Once in Belgium, the Spanish justice issued a euroorder that was rejected by a court of first instance, first, and by the Ghent Court of Appeal twice, alleging that none of the three crimes attributed to the rapper is punishable in Belgium and that fall within the freedom of expression.

The case has suffered delays due to the stoppage of the pandemic, as well as the request that the Belgian Constitutional Court rule on the crime of insulting the King. This issue was also referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the legal journey has come to an end.


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