A$AP Rocky Released From Swedish Jail, Can Return Home Ahead Of Verdict
A Swedish court ruled that A$AP Rocky can be released from jail and remain free until a verdict on his assault case is determined on August 14. The rapper, along with two other suspects, was arrested for assault in Stockholm last month after witnesses claimed he attacked a man while visiting the city.
A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is free to return to the United States after spending the past month in jail, according to CNN.
Swedish prosecutors are seeking a six-month prison term after the 30-year-old allegedly assaulted someone in June. A$AP Rocky pled not guilty and said that he, along with two people who were with him, were acting in self-defense.
Prosecutors say that the three men were not using an appropriate amount of violence in response to the perceived threat, and should face consequences accordingly.
“In a putative self-defense situation, the violence must still be proportionate. Here we have three people delivering kicks and punches to a person lying down,” the prosecutors argued. “The three should be convicted of assault according to my description of events.”
According to the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, the rapper and his companions kicked him and struck him with a glass bottle while he was lying on the ground. Three women who witnessed the altercation say that they saw the rapper holding the bottle and saw the three men kick and punch Jafari.
But on Friday, one of the women recanted her testimony, saying that while she heard the bottle being smashed, she wasn’t sure if it was used to strike Jafari. A$AP Rocky says that he held the bottle but put it down without using it.
A witness in the A$AP Rocky assault case has revised her story from initial police reports, testifying in a Swedish court that she didn't actually see the American rapper hitting a man with a bottle. https://t.co/0Ds0rWdQV5
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 2, 2019
Donald Trump, who has received criticism for getting involved in the case, said on Twitter on Friday that the rapper was headed back to the U.S.
“A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!” he wrote.
On July 25, Trump got involved in the situation by asking Sweden to release the rapper.
“Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem!” he said on Twitter.
He added in another post on Twitter that he was “disappointed” in the Swedish Prime Minister for refusing to release A$AP Rocky. He claimed that the action “let our African American Community down,” while saying he’d watched the tapes and believed the rapper was being harassed.
