Rapper in Spain faces further legal action for instructing fans to ‘kill a Guardia Civil officer’

A TRADE UNION representing Guardia Civil officers has lodged a case in court against a Mallorca rapper over allegedly calling for police officers to be killed at a concert.
The Unified Association of the Guardia Civil (AUGC) filed proceedings with a court in Estepa in Sevilla Province comments made by Valtonyc. The rapper was previously sentenced to prison for lyrics in his songs.
Alberto Moya, Secretary General of the AUGC, testified before the Estepa Court of Instruction last Thursday.
Documents submitted to the court from the AUGC said they believed remarks Valtonyc made at a concert in March were illegal and not protected by free speech.
“Kill a f****** Guardia Civil officer tonight, go to another town where there are Guardia Civil officers and kill one,” the rapper is alleged to have said.
“These sentiments are not protected by freedom of expression. This case is not about song lyrics but about comments that were intentionally aimed at a large group of people,” AUGC told the court.
“Our purpose is to defend Guardia Civil officers against actions that make them targets. Freedom of Expression does not cover behaviour that, in a criminal way, promotes irrational hatred against the Guardia Civil,” the union added.
Valtonyc, real name Josep Miguel Arenas, lost an appeal at Spain’s Supreme Court earlier this year over a three and a half year prison sentence for song lyrics. The court ruled he had insulted the monarchy and glorified terrorism in his songs.
Valtonyc later fled to Belgium and courts there refused to extradite him. He has since taken Spain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the sentence.
The rapper said he was exercising his right to free speech with the songs while prosecutors argued his lyrics were illegal and explicitly incited violence.