Valtònyc

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Valtònyc (2018)

Josep Miquel Arenas Beltrán (born December 18, 1993 in Sa Pobla , Mallorca ), better known by his stage name Valtònyc , is a Spanish rapper . His violent anti-capitalist and anti-fascist texts brought him into the sights of the Spanish judiciary. Immediately before starting a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, he fled to Belgium in 2018 and thus generated international media coverage.

Life

Controversy over song lyrics

The musician from the Balearic island of Mallorca released his debut single Desde el papel in 2009 . He first attracted attention in August 2012 with the song Circo Balear , in which he attacks the then President of the Autonomous Community of Balearic Islands Jorge Campos Asensi and some members of the government. Campos saw himself as threatened by the text and filed a complaint. Equally controversial was the song La TuerKa Rap , released in the same year , in which Valtònyc played down terror organizations like ETA and insulted a member of the Spanish royal family, Iñaki Urdangarin . In another song he called for the royal family's summer residence in Palma de Mallorca to be armed. A total of 16 songs with criminal relevance were found, which resulted in long-term investigations. In similar cases, the rapper Pablo Hasél and the rap trio La Insurgencia were sentenced to prison terms. Valtònyc argued in his defense that the language of rap is "extreme, provocative, allegorical and symbolic".

Condemnation

On February 22, 2017, the rapper was finally to a three and a half years imprisonment convicted. Two years of these were spent for defamation and serious insult to the crown , one year for glorifying terrorism and six months for threatening Campos, to whom he had to pay an additional compensation payment of 3,000 euros . The artist's appeal was rejected by the Spanish Constitutional Court a year later on the grounds that the texts were not covered by freedom of expression and artistic freedom . The start of detention was set for May 24, 2018. This decision sparked a debate on freedom of expression in Spain and generated expressions of solidarity across the country. Critics said the anti-terrorist laws were being used to silence Valtònyc. He received support from Pablo Iglesias Turrión , head of the left-wing populist Podemos party. After more than 7,000 people had previously signed a petition for an acquittal, a concert was organized in favor of the convict. Meanwhile, Valtònyc announced “disobedience” on Twitter and called Spain a “fascist state”. He also made headlines when he called for a concert to kill police officers.

Escape 2018 and EGC judgment 2020

Immediately before going to prison, Valtònyc fled to Belgium in May 2018 , as several Catalan separatists - including regional president Carles Puigdemont - had done a year earlier . The Spanish authorities wanted a European arrest warrant , but a court in Ghent ruled against the rapper's extradition on September 17th . According to the reasoning, the offenses punished in Spain are not punishable in Belgium. The General Court of the European Union also dismissed the application for a Europe-wide arrest warrant in March 2020 and found that the Spanish judiciary could not make use of the relevant law from 2015 retrospectively (for the crimes committed in 2012).

Discography

Studio albums

  • 2015: Rap Rural
  • 2018: El Reincident

Singles (selection)

  • 2009: Desde el papel
  • 2010: Misantropia
  • 2011: Jazz amb llágrimes de rom
  • 2012: Residus d'un poeta
  • 2012: Mallorca és ca nostra
  • 2012: Cadenas
  • 2013: Aina i altres ansietats
  • 2013: Microglicerina
  • 2014: Eutanasia
  • 2015: Simbiòsi
  • 2015: La autodestrucción y sus ventajas
  • 2016: Neversleep

Web links

Commons : Valtònyc  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ El rapero español Valtonyc fue condenado a prisión: ¿Injusticia o legalidad? Televisión Nacional de Colombia, accessed September 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ a b c Sabine Winkler: Anger against the police, monarchy and corruption: Why the Spanish rapper Valtonyc has to go to prison. Musikexpress , May 13, 2018, accessed September 17, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c Belgium does not extradite Spanish rapper Valtonyc. ORF , September 17, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c El rapero español Valtonyc fue condenado a prisión: ¿Injusticia o legalidad? Radiónica / Televisión Nacional de Colombia, accessed September 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  5. ↑ El cantante mallorquín Valtonyc, condenado a 3 años y 6 meses de cárcel. Diario de Mallorca, February 22, 2017, accessed September 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  6. ↑ a b El rapero Valtonyc se fuga de España para eludir la prisión. El País , May 24, 2018, accessed September 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  7. ↑ Michael Maier: Belgium leaves Mallorca rapper Valtonyc in freedom. Mallorca Magazin, September 17, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Álvaro Sánchez: La justicia europea da la razón a Valtònyc y complica su entrega a España. El País , March 3, 2020, accessed March 7, 2020 (Spanish).
personal data
SURNAME Valtònyc
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beltrán, Josep Miquel Arenas (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION spanish rapper
DATE OF BIRTH 18th December 1993
PLACE OF BIRTH Sa Pobla , Mallorca