Josep Miquel Arenas, better known as Valtònyc, returns to Spain. The Mallorcan rapper, after living six years in Belgium after being convicted for his songs, for the crimes of "glorification of terrorism", "insults to the crown" and "humiliation of the victims", returns to Spain after the order of the National Court, dated March 22, 2023, in which it is declared “the prison sentence has expired” and it is agreed “to annul all orders that had been issued for the search and capture of the convicted José Miguel Arenas Beltrán in order to comply of the pending penalty.”
The artist announced this on the social network X in a message in which he thanks President Puigdemont for his support during his stay in Belgium.
“Coming back is always the best part of the adventure,” Valtònyc tweeted: “Thank you for having accompanied me during these 6 years of exile and also on this first journey back home. For everything we have fought, laughed, conquered and cried. Thank you, President Puigdemont.”
Puigdemont has responded on the same network with the following message: "Have a good return to your land, which is ours. With you @valtonyc, we all return a little. Thank you for resisting an unjust exile and accompanying us without ever giving up. It has been "an honor to share that journey."
Speaking to Rac1, the Mallorcan rapper's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, confirmed the artist's return this Saturday. "He is a free man," he said. "He had a sentence of three and a half years that he prescribed," the lawyer explained. "There is no danger of arrest," he declared.
Boye revealed that, for part of his return trip, Valtònyc was accompanied by Carles Puigdemont. "Puigdemont leads", he revealed. "They are good friends," recalled the lawyer.
The lawyer has also explained that José Miguel Arenas will attend the trial that is set for November 21 at the Seville Court, in which the Prosecutor's Office requests 4 years in prison for him for shouting expressions at a concert such as "putting a fucking bomb." to the prosecutor” or “shoot a civil guard.”
Although the time of his arrival is unknown, Valtònyc's artistic reappearance could occur tomorrow, since his name appears on the list of artists participating in the "Hip Hop for Palestine" solidarity concert, scheduled for this Sunday the 29th at the Paral hall. ·lel 62, from Barcelona.
The rapper was convicted in Spain for a crime of threats, glorification of terrorism and insults to the Crown for some songs written in 2012 and fled to Belgium as did several Catalan independence leaders, among whom was the then president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont.
On December 28, 2021, the Court of Appeal of Ghent rejected the surrender to Spain of Valtònyc, for a crime of threats, after the Belgian Justice had previously ruled out the crimes of insult to the Crown and glorification of terrorism.
The Constitutional Court of Belgium on October 22, 2021, decided that insults to the king were protected by freedom of expression; and, therefore, that a Belgian law from 1847 regarding offenses against the king “is contrary to freedom of expression”, so it could not be applied to judge the rapper in 2021.
The Belgian justice had already rejected in the first instance the surrender of Valtònyc in September 2018, alleging that double criminality did not exist, that is, that the charges for which he was convicted in Spain were not classified as a crime in Belgium, a decision that was appealed. the Ghent Prosecutor's Office before the Court of Appeal, which ruled on December 28, 2021.
Finally, in May 2022, the Belgian justice system rejected the extradition of Josep Miquel Arenas as it did not find any crime in the Belgian penal code equivalent to that of insult to the crown for which he was convicted in the Spanish State, since the rest had already been committed. discarded.
