{"id":5831,"date":"2021-02-23T16:12:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T16:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/?p=5831"},"modified":"2024-02-23T12:42:12","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T12:42:12","slug":"belaruski-pen-daluchaeczcza-da-pen-international-i-pen-catala-i-patrabue-vyzvalennya-vyzvalennya-repera-pabla-haselya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2021\/02\/23\/belaruski-pen-daluchaeczcza-da-pen-international-i-pen-catala-i-patrabue-vyzvalennya-vyzvalennya-repera-pabla-haselya.html","title":{"rendered":"Spain: Release rapper Pablo Has\u00e9l and uphold freedom of expression"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 16 February, riot police entered the University of Lleida, near Barcelona, and arrested Pablo Has\u00e9l who had barricaded himself inside the building after refusing to hand himself in to the police to serve a prison term for \u2018glorifying terrorism\u2019 in his songs and on Twitter. His arrest triggered protests and clashes in several cities in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018The jailing of Pablo Has\u00e9l for his lyrics and tweets is yet another example of the Spanish authorities\u2019 silencing of artistic voices. Democracies don’t jail poets, even if the words they express are disturbing or uncomfortable. It is astonishing that Spain has just done that. Peaceful expression, even when it seems insulting or disrespectful, must never be criminalized. The Spanish authorities must release Pablo Has\u00e9l at once\u2019,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/i>said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International\u2019s Writers in Prison Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Has\u00e9l was sentenced under Article 578 of the Spanish Criminal Code, which prohibits \u2018glorifying terrorism\u2019. He was also found guilty of insulting the Crown and state institutions. Spain\u2019s Criminal Code unduly restricts freedom of expression in the name of national security. In recent years, scores of musicians have been <\/span>unfairly prosecuted<\/span><\/a> on the grounds of glorification of terrorism and\/or insulting the Crown, resulting in increased self-censorship and a broader chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country. The Justice Ministry recently <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> its intention to amend the Criminal Code to reduce penalties in cases that involve artistic, cultural and intellectual activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018While we welcome the Spanish authorities\u2019 stated intention to uphold artistic freedom, we urge them to immediately repeal Article 578 of the Criminal Code and to bring its provisions in line with international human rights law and standards. All criminal defamation laws should be amended, and issues of reputation should be addressed as civil law matters where the government has no role\u2019<\/span><\/i>, <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

said \u00c0ngels Gregori, President of PEN Catal\u00e0.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

22 February 2021 \u2013 The Spanish authorities must immediately release Pablo Has\u00e9l and amend legislation that stifles freedom of expression, PEN International and PEN Catal\u00e0 said today, as the rapper starts a nine-month prison sentence for his lyrics and tweets.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidarity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5831"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5842,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831\/revisions\/5842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}