• Justice The EU Court closes the door to the delivery to Spain of the rapper Valtònyc to serve his sentence

  • Justice Belgium does not get wet and asks the European Justice about the Valtonyc case

  • The facts Valtonyc escapes to Belgium to avoid going to jail

Valtònyc has not sold many records or filled large concert halls, but his short musical career has led him to a much more unique milestone: modifying the penal code of a foreign country and exposing his own.

This Thursday, the Constitutional Court of Belgium ruled that the first article of the law of April 6, 1847, which typifies insults to the Crown, "violates freedom of expression" and, therefore, has no place in the country system.

The internal consequences are going to be many, but the decision has a much more practical effect: to close the door, almost definitely, on the delivery of the rapper to Spain.

"Victoria. The Constitutional Court repeals the law of lese majesty declaring that it is contrary to freedom of expression. A historic step for the Belgian legal system and good news for the case on the extradition of Valtònyc", celebrated his lawyer,

Simon Bekaert

, son of the lawyer who also defends Carles Puigdemont and his former advisers.

"It has always been clear to me that I wanted to put my case in the hands of fundamental rights for collective benefit. We have succeeded, we have won and Belgium eliminates the insults to the Crown from the penal code. I did not bow my head, but you have not left alone. Thank you ", celebrated the former musician, who today works in the so-called House of the Catalan Republic, running errands for the former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia and his team.

The

The facts

The case is long and complicated. When

Josep Miquel Arenas

took refuge in Belgium so as not to enter prison, Spain issued a Euro order demanding his surrender for exaltation of terrorism, but the Belgian court rejected it on the grounds that the crimes typified in Spain (exaltation and humiliation of the victims) had no equivalent in the local regime.

The Belgian Prosecutor's Office, on behalf of Spain, appealed. The Galte court questioned Luxembourg and, in March 2020, the EU Court of Justice ruled on the rapper issue, considering that Spain did wrong in trying to apply the 2015 Penal Code to Valtònyc (when the sentence was passed conviction) and not that of 2012, which did not imply three but two years in prison in the worst case. European legislation sets the minimum for automatic delivery at three.

The National Court then requested a new file claiming for insults to the Crown.

The Ghent Court referred a question to its Constitutional Court, because although this crime has existed in the Belgian code since 1847, it wondered if it was compatible with the freedom of expression of an artist, contemplated in Article 19 of the Constitution and in Article 10 of the European Convention on the Rights of Man.

Failure

This Thursday, the Constitutional Court has told him no, making it almost impossible for the Flemish court to decide on the delivery of the claim requested by the Spanish justice on November 23.

"This provision punishes crimes against the King with a particularly severe prison sentence (from six months to three years in prison), which in principle is contrary to freedom of expression when the penalty is imposed for opinions expressed within the framework of a political debate or a debate on matters of general interest. Furthermore, this provision protects the King's reputation more broadly than that of other people. According to the Court, the provision does not respond to an urgent social need and is disproportionate to the objective of protect reputation ", says the Constitutional Court in its ruling.

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Know more

  • Spain

  • Belgium

  • Valtonyc

  • Justice

  • Catalonia

The Panel The majority of Spaniards believe that the Government does not do everything possible for Puigdemont to be handed over

Courts Puigdemont maintains that he will go to Sardinia and will be free despite the new judicial offensive of Llarena

The Catalan rent-restraint regulations, a controversial precedent of the new Housing law: supply sank 42%

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