Spanish top court backs rapper in freedom of speech case

MADRID — Spain’s constitutional Court on Tuesday overturned a previous verdict that found a rapper guilty of exalting terrorism and humiliating victims of attacks in tweets.

César Montana Lehmann of the Def Con Dos rock band had been sentenced to one year in prison by the country’s Supreme Court for a series of tweets in 2013 and 2014 in which he talked about sending a cake bomb to former King Juan Carlos I on his birthday and said that some politicians made him long for a former armed leftist group.

The singer, whose stage name is César Strawberry, was also banned from holding any public position for more than six years.

The constitutional Court said Tuesday that the guilty ruling violated the singer’s free speech rights.

Amnesty International and other rights groups had campaigned on Montana’s behalf.

The Associated Press