El País: Spanish rapper flees the country to avoid prison sentence
Josep Miquel Arenas, aka Valtonyc, was to begin a term for lyrics said to foment terrorism and insult the Crown
Spanish rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, known by his artistic name Valtonyc, has fled Spain to avoid a three-and-a-half-year prison term for glorifying terrorism and insulting the Crown in a series of song lyrics. The artist, who is from Mallorca, was supposed to report to prison authorities on Thursday.
On May 14, Spain’s High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, gave Valtonyc 10 days to voluntarily turn himself in to prison authorities and serve his sentence after the rapper lost his appeal in the Supreme Court.
“Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow they are going to knock down the door of my house and put me in jail. For a few songs,” he wrote in a message posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Tomorrow Spain is going to make a fool of itself, again. I am not going to make it easy for them. Disobedience is legitimate and an obligation in the face of this fascist state. No-one is giving up,” he added. …
