[ad_1]
Police van on fire, litter bins, stolen shops: eleven days after the arrest of rapper Pablo Hasel in Spain, the demonstrations did not weaken in Barcelona and a new demonstration degenerated into clashes with the police on Saturday, says AFP.
The demonstration was organized in support of the rapist convicted and imprisoned for messages on Twitter that attacked the monarchy and the forces of order, but in general had other social demands.
Hundreds of participants marched behind a large banner announcing “Until they fall. Nothing to lose. Everything to win,” according to a France Presse correspondent.
“The case of Pablo shows that we live in a fascist state … that we have to fight and that this is a violation of fundamental rights,” said Adria, a 26-year-old musician who came to demonstrate and refused. give your last name.
“Who am I to judge what he says in his words? But to condemn him for this seems like an attack on freedom of expression,” said Barbar Salazar, a 36-year-old doctor.
The rally degenerated in the evening, causing vandalism and robbery of some bank branches, one of which was set on fire.
Broken shop windows, paint-stained facades and Molotov cocktails, one of which set fire to a police van, several “hooded rioters attacked shops, but especially banks,” according to several Twitter messages from Catalan police that confirmed that one of their Burned vehicles, as well as many garbage cans or containers. At least 10 people have been arrested during the clashes, Catalan police said on Twitter, one of whom is “involved in the van burning.”
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, thanked in a cheep “Unacceptable acts of vandalism and violence that shook Barcelona tonight”, giving the Police all their “support”, writes Agerpres.
Since mid-February, more than 110 protesters have been arrested in the northeastern region of Spain, according to police.
Pablo Hasel, 32, was sentenced to 9 months in prison for apologizing for terrorism because in a Twitter message he called former King Juan Carlos a ‘mafioso’, praising those involved in the attacks and accused the police of torturing and kill migrants and protesters.
His arrest on February 16 in rather spectacular circumstances at the University of Lleida, where he barricaded himself with his supporters who wanted to avoid his arrest, sparked protests marked by incidents in several other Spanish cities, including Madrid, Valencia and Granada.
In Barcelona, where this social frond is the most marked, violent demonstrations take place almost daily to denounce the record rate of youth unemployment in the European Union (40.2%), the precariousness or the increase in income.
The arrest of Pablo Hasel has reactivated the debate on freedom of expression in Spain and has deepened the differences within the governing coalition between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialists and the Podemos party (radical left), which supports the demonstrations.
Publisher: Georgiana Marina
[ad_2]
