When a rapper who blasphemed the royal family and glorified terror was imprisoned, protests against it have been continuing for a full day in Spain. When rapper Pablo Hassel, 33, from Catalonia, Spain, was imprisoned on the 16th, protests are continuing to demand freedom of expression and his release.
Citizens of Barcelona, Spain, protest the arrest of rapper Pablo Hassel on the 27th (local time) and protest on the streets of Ramblas. The protests that continued for 15 days unfolded in a radical fashion, leading to a conflict with the police. A Catalan separatist flag is seen among the protesters. Reuters = Yonhap News
– Hassel was arrested in northern Lerida while he was fleeing. He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2018 for violating the security law, and then commuted to nine months, but he has not been arrested. In the lyrics and tweets of the song, Hassel criticized the former king Juan Carlos (83), who received a bribe in connection with the high-speed rail business, as a “mafia boss” and a “thief,” while his son, Felipe VI, the current king (53), called him “tyrant”. Spain enacted a security law in 2015 banning criticism of religion and the royal family. In addition to Hassel, about 70 people were convicted under the law in 2018 and 2019 alone.
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A police car is burning in Barcelona, where protests took place on the night of the 27th. AP=Yonhap News
– The arrest of Hassel, a Catalan separatist, also shows signs of intensifying regional conflict in Spain. The protests demanding the release of Hassel are also taking place most violently in Barcelona, Catalonia’s largest city. Protesters threw stones at the police, looted stores, and set vehicles on fire.
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Citizens protest on the streets of Barcelona demanding the release of rapper Hassel. AP=Yonhap News
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Protesters are breaking the windows of a shopping mall in Barcelona. AP=Yonhap News
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On the night of the 27th, the Barcelona police hit the protesters. AP=Yonhap News
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On the 27th, an anti-government protester in Lida, Catalonia, writes on the wall, “The constitutional monarchy is a poor system.” EPA=Yonhap News
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On the night of the 27th, citizens of Barcelona are setting up barricades on the streets while protesting against Hassel’s arrest. EPA=Yonhap News
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A protester is throwing a Molotov cocktail at the police. AP=Yonhap News
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Citizens of Barcelona are carrying out a street demonstration with banners. “Until they perish! There is nothing to lose, only to gain,” he wrote. AFP=Yonhap News
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Reporter Choi Jeong-dong 
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