Who is Pablo Hasél, the rapper who insulted kings and sparked a political crisis in Spain

Until a few weeks ago, the name of Pablo Hasel he was practically unknown in Spain. But in recent days he has become a protagonist and has made headlines not only in his country but in much of the world. The controversial imprisonment of this Catalan rapper has sparked a violent wave of protests and a crisis in the government of Pedro Sánchez. And that has fueled the debate over the limits of free speech.

Provocative, provocative, sympathizer of the Catalan independence movement, Pablo Rivadulla Duró – as it appears in his document -, 32, resisted arrest until the last moment, from which he could not escape on Tuesday, when he took refuge in the headquarters of the University of Lleida, with dozens of followers.

Sentenced to nine months in prison for crimes such as extolling terrorism and insults against the crown For some tweets published between 2014 and 2016, Hasél had until Friday, February 12 to surrender. And he had clearly warned that he would not give in.

“They will never stop us, they will not bend us!” Hasél shouted with a raised fist as the police escorted him out of the university of Lleida, in this Catalan town 150 kilometers from Barcelona. “Death to the fascist state,” he shouted before getting into the police vehicle, amid boos from activists.

As Barcelona, ​​Madrid and other cities in Spain have flared up this week in protests and clashes with police rejecting Hasél’s arrest, the rapper has gained international fame.

His stage name is taken from a story he read as a teenager. “There was a character, a guerrilla who executed a monarchy. I don’t remember the full name, but part of it was Hasél. I kept it, ”he explained to the Journal of Catalonia.

“I wanted to be in this trench of revolutionary art”, he explained in an interview in 2014, after a first sentence of two years in prison for glorification of terrorism, for songs where he called for the death of the royal family or extolled the extreme groups of violent actions. On this occasion, however, he was saved from bars for not having a record.

In the tweets he was now sentenced for, he didn’t just criticize the monarchy. For example, he called the police force “shitty mercenaries” and accused them of torturing and murdering protesters and immigrants.

A supporter of the Catalan independence movement, Hasél was also accused of assault and obstruction of justice. In total he has four convictions and a fifth case still open, as he recalled The newspaper, from Catalonia.

Hasél has caused controversy and angered authorities over the past decade. In his insults to the monarchy, he described the King Emeritus Juan Carlos I like a gangster who plunders the Spanish kingdom.

In tweets, he referred to a deceased member of the Basque terrorist group ETA as if he had been exterminated by the “State of Torture”. Patxi López.

Endurance

A few days before the last arrest this week, the rapper said in an interview with AFP that he would not surrender.

“They will have to come and kidnap me and that will also serve to ensure that the state is portrayed for what it is: a bogus democracy,” he said defiantly.

On Monday, faced with rumors of an imminent arrest, he barricaded himself in the building of the presbytery of the university in his hometown with dozens of young people who wanted to make his arrest more difficult.

Tweets that condemn him

The sentence for which to serve 9 months in prison and pay a fine of nearly 30,000 euros is due to more than 60 messages published on Twitter between 2014 and 2016.

For his part, which at the time had more than 54,000 followers, the rapper honors members of Spanish armed groups, like the GRAPO (First October Antifascist Resistance Groups), accused of a thousand violent actions between 1975 and 2003 in Spain, including 80 assassinations and attempted assassinations and several kidnappings. His tributes to GRAPO earned him this first conviction in 2014.

In previous songs, his tone was direct and brutal. “You think you are a big businessman smoking cigars, fucking ass. I hope the GRAPO will come back and bring you to your knees,” he sang in 2010.

In his tweets, Hasél also accuses the Spanish security forces of torture and murder, with phrases such as “Nazi police”.

“50 police officers injured? Those crappy mercenaries bite their tongues hitting hosts and say they’re injured,” he tweeted in 2014.

“Civil Guard torturing or killing immigrants? Democracy. Jokes about fascists? Apologia for terrorism,” he added in another tweet.

New songs

Semanas antes del arresto de Hasél, unos 200 artistas, entre ellos el director de cine Pedro Almodóvar, el actor Javier Bardem y el cantautor Joan Manuel Serrat, habían firmado un manifiesto en su defensa, en medio de una controversia por la libertad de expresión en Spain.

Support from part of the world of art and culture fueled their resistance. And on the same Friday the 12th, deadline for appearing in court, he published a new song, this time against King Felipe VI.

The four-minute theme begins with an intervention by the king in which he defends – this week – freedom of expression. Hásel dedicates it to the “so-called progressive government”. Then he launches a first “hey tyrant” to Felipe and begins his rhymed diatribe, his “republican cry”, according to The newspaper. “I hate the oppressive reign, let your family eat from the container,” he insists.

The video with the new song has already gone viral on YouTube and the lyrics claim that “this rap will sound like stones against Vox”, alluding to the far right party advancing in the country and especially in Catalonia.

The rapper says he will never be “in prison for fear” and that his microphone “will continue to be uncomfortable”. In fact, Hasél calls “the sons of Franco” who condemned him for “being frank”.

The center of Barcelona burned again on Friday evening, in rejection of Hasél’s arrest. President Pedro Sánchez and much of his government condemned the violence in the protests. But the followers of Hasél do not give up and continue their fight in the streets and on social networks.