Violent protests against the rapper’s arrest and accusations of police brutality rock Catalonia for the fifth day

Mossos arrested 34 people on Saturday, totaling almost 100 in the week.

Hasel himself was arrested on Tuesday after the Catalan riot police invaded Lledia University, near Barcelona, ​​where the rapper and his supporters took refuge.

The prison video shows the defiant rapper shouting, “You will never defeat us! You will never beat us, we will resist until we are victorious.”

Hasel had until February 12 to surrender to the police after the Spanish Supreme Court in May 2020 upheld the conviction of a first instance court in March 2018 against the rapper, whose full name is Pablo Rivadulla Duro.

The conviction was for supporting terrorism and also for defamation and slander against the Spanish monarchy, through their messages on social media, according to a copy of the court’s sentence and a note from the Supreme Court’s press office. He was sentenced to nine months in prison.

The Spanish government announced last week that it would lift prison sentences for offenses involving freedom of expression, but it is unclear when the changes will be made.

“How can you put someone in prison for expressing their ideas?” Galofré said when asked why she was present on Saturday night.

“I don’t agree with looting and there are always people who will take advantage of social movements to cause chaos,” said Galofré. “The protests were peaceful until the police intervened.”

In Galofré’s hometown of Sabadell, a city north of Barcelona, ​​the demonstrations were passive and without incident, she added.

A much smaller demonstration took place in the Spanish capital, Madrid, where about 100 people shouted for Hasel’s freedom.

Five nights of protests

Joan Colet, a 16-year-old student, was protesting at Plaça de Catalunya on Saturday night and saw some people separate from the main demonstration group and start looting.

“Many people are taking advantage, they are not here to protest,” he told CNN. “They have different reasons.”

Police beat some protesters with batons and fired foam balls at others, Colet said, adding that the barricades set up by the protesters were for protection.

“We are tired of seeing people going to prison just for writing something on social media,” he said. “It is about Pablo’s freedom, but also Spanish freedom and freedom of expression.”

“In a full democracy, and Spain’s democracy is a full democracy, the use of violence is unacceptable. There is no exception to this rule,” he told a news conference. “There is no reason, place or situation to justify the use of force.”

Police violence reports

When contacted by CNN, Mossos said that the person Cornellà was trying to help had a criminal record and that he pushed one of the agents into interfering with the arrest.

A woman was injured in the eye after a projectile hit her on Tuesday, said photojournalist Àngel García, who captured the scene.

“I was standing in front of the riot police line when they shot, he told CNN by phone on Saturday.” I turned and saw a woman with her hand over her eyes, covered in blood.

Garcia said the woman was hit by a police rubber bullet and lost her eye, which CNN was unable to independently verify.

In response to a request for comment from CNN, Mossos said his force uses only foam balls to maintain public order. He is currently investigating the incident.

“The police behaved brutally,” said Oriol Estival, a 22-year-old geography student at the University of Barcelona who participated in the protests. “There was great police harassment and unjustified arrests of people who were not doing anything.”

Estival said people ransacked luxury fashion brand stores, but said most of the participants were at ease. Like Galofré, he said he was not only protesting against Hasel’s arrest, but also against police brutality and “the rise of the extreme right and fascism in Catalonia”.