Spanish Rapper Cesar Strawberry Receives Prison Sentence for Tweets Glorifying Terrorism

The Twitter posts of a Spanish rapper have landed him in prison. Def Con Dos member Cesar Strawberry, pictured left in the above photo, was sentenced to one year in prison for tweets deemed to be "glorifying terrorism" and “humiliating victims.”

Spain's supreme court claimed that Strawberry's tweets “feed the discourse of hate [and] legitimize terrorism as a formula for resolving social conflicts,” according to court documents quoted by Spain’s El Pais newspaper. Strawberry, whose real name is César Augusto Montaña Lehmann, was originally absolved of his charges by a lower court last July, but the supreme court overturned the ruling.

Between 2013 and 2014, Strawberry tweeted about the Spanish militant group GRAPO as well as former prison guard José Antonio Ortega Lara. "Ortega Lara should be kidnapped [again] now," Strawberry wrote in one tweet. Ortega Lara was kidnapped by the Basque separatist group ETA in 1996 and held captive in a basement for 532 days before being freed.

The Spanish supreme court stated that Strawberry's tweets caused victims of the ETA to relive "the memory of the lacerating experience of threat, kidnapping, or the murder of a close relative.” Strawberry denied any intent to mock the victims of the ETA or promote terrorism.

“At no time did I intend to humiliate victims or glorify terrorism because I have friends who have been victims, them and their family members,” Strawberry told reporters outside of the court.

Strawberry also sent a tweet out to his supporters following the verdict.

“Your support and solidarity are the greatest guarantee that faced with repression, the defense of the right to freely express ourselves will prevail," he wrote.

Strawberry's group Def Con Dos is known for their politically-charged subject matter. A sample of their work can be heard below.

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