Extradition decision on rapper in Belgium postponed

Rapper Valtonyc will have to wait to find out whether Belgium will extradite him to Spain.

A judge in Flanders decided to postpone the decision on the rapper’s extradition after a hearing in Ghent this Tuesday.

The magistrate summoned the musician to court again on September 3, when a decision might be taken. Yet Valtonyc's defense will be able to appeal if necessary, said one of the rapper's lawyers after the hearing.

Lawyer Simon Bekaert explained that his team have handed in their written defense and the Belgian prosecution will answer their arguments in the coming days.

Valtonyc thus remains free for the time being and has avoided automatic extradition.

The rapper was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in Spain after being charged with glorifying terrorism and slander in some song lyrics, which made references to the police and the King of Spain.

Yet, a day before he was due to enter prison, it became clear that Valtonyc had absconded and was no longer in Spain. On July 5, he held his first public press conference from Belgium, where on the same day a Flemish judge released him on conditional bail while his case was reviewed.

The artist argues that while his rap songs always tried to be "provocative," they were also always part of his "art" and "performances."