
Barcelona sees seventh straight evening of protests over jailed rapper

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Protesters in Barcelona clashed with police for a seventh consecutive evening on Monday over the imprisonment of rapper Pablo Hasel.
After a peaceable gathering punctuated with cries of “Freedom for Pablo Hasel”, the demonstrators marched via the guts of Barcelona to the nationwide police headquarters, the place some threw bottles and different objects at automobiles defending the constructing, tv photos confirmed.
The protesters then took to different streets, the place they set garbage bins alight.
“Groups of rioters are setting fire to the barricades… and throwing objects at neighbours who complain about their attitude,” the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia‘s police power, posted to Twitter on Monday.
Identified for his hard-left views, Hasel was handed a nine-month sentence over tweets glorifying terrorism and movies inciting violence. The courtroom ruling stated freedom of expression couldn’t be used “as a ‘blank cheque’ to praise the perpetrators of terrorism”.
A person throws a bouquet of flowers towards a nationwide police station throughout a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasel in Barcelona, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. pic.twitter.com/rJ3hQYbt6E
— Emilio Morenatti (@EmilioMorenatti) February 22, 2021
He was additionally fined about €30,000 for insults, libel and slander for tweets likening former king Juan Carlos I to a mafia boss and accusing police of torturing and killing demonstrators and migrants.
The rapper’s case has develop into a trigger celebre amongst campaigners, who say that jailing him is a disproportionate response and a harmful assault on free speech.
The demonstrations have continued since final Tuesday, when police pressured their well beyond barricades on the Catalan college the place Hasel and his supporters have been holed as much as arrest him. Police say 109 demonstrators have been detained within the area over that point.
Monday’s protest, on a wet evening in Spain‘s second largest metropolis, attracted fewer folks and spurred much less violent clashes than the earlier nights’ gatherings.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)