BARCELONA, Spain: Several hundred protesters marched Saturday in Barcelona against a Spanish government crackdown following a violent outcry over the imprisonment of Pablo Hasl, an anti-establishment artist.
Saturday’s march took place amid a heavy police presence, winding through several avenues of the Catalan regional capital. Protesters walked behind a banner that called for the release of Hasl and his jailed supporters.
The rapper is serving nine months for inciting terrorism he has praised two now-defunct armed groups responsible for killing over 900 people in Spain and for refusing to pay a fine for insulting Spains former king.
His arrest on Feb. 16 triggered a mix of peaceful and violent protests that have at times ended in the looting of shops in several cities. The case has also invigorated a debate over the limits of freedom of speech in Spain.
The ruling left-wing coalition has pledged to launch a legal reform to eliminate prison terms for offenses involving freedom of speech. The coalition’s junior partner, the far-left United We Can party, has filed a petition to pardon Hasl.
Eight suspects have been jailed for being in a group that protested the rapper’s imprisonment by setting fire to a police van in which an officer narrowly escaped the flames.
They face possible charges of attempted homicide, assaulting law enforcement officers and forming part of a criminal group.
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