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The Washington Post

A court in Sweden on Wednesday convicted US rapper A$AP Rocky of assault and handed him a suspended sentence over a street brawl in June, a case that outraged fans and sparked a diplomatic spat with US President Donald Trump.
The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and two members of his entourage were found guilty of assaulting a 19-year-old in a fight in Stockholm on June 30.
The three, who were in the Swedish capital for a concert, “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him as he lay on the ground. The artist has also thrown the victim to the ground and stepped on his arm”, the court wrote in its verdict, rejecting the defence’s argument of self-defence.
The three were “not in a situation where they were entitled to self-defence”, the court said.
Mayers was not present in Stockholm for the verdict.
US rapper A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty in Sweden assault case
Prosecutor Daniel Suneson had called for a six-month prison sentence for Mayers and two of his crew, while the defence argued they should be acquitted.
Considered a “flight risk”, Mayers was held in custody for a month while the case was investigated and throughout his trial.
But he was released after the close of proceedings on August 2, pending the verdict, and immediately returned to the US.

Fans, fellow artists and even Trump had called for his release – with the US president’s intervention drawing complaints from Swedish politicians.
US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert C O’Brien to attend the trial, who told reporters: “The president felt they shouldn’t have been detained, they were stalked.”
An online petition also called #JusticeForRocky garnered more than 640,000 signatures and supporters were urged to boycott Swedish brands such as Ikea.
At his first performance on Sunday following his release, in Anaheim in California, the rapper thanked fans and called the experience in Sweden “scary” and “humbling”.

“I need y’all to keep praying for me,” he told the crowd, saying he hoped he would not have to return to serve a jail sentence.
The artist maintained his innocence, telling the court he acted in self-defence, saying he felt “scared” and that he and his entourage had repeatedly told the plaintiff to leave them alone.
Mayers conceded he threw the man to the ground and “kicked his arm”, but denied the prosecution’s claim that a bottle was used and insisted he only acted after the accuser and his friend began attacking his bodyguard.
The plaintiff, a Swedish resident born in Afghanistan, alleged he was attacked by Mayers and his entourage when he followed them to ask about a headphone set broken in an earlier scuffle with the rapper’s bodyguard.

Assault carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison in Sweden.
In one video clip of the brawl published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ, the rapper can be seen throwing a young man to the ground and aiming several punches at him while he is down.
The court was also shown videos posted on the artist’s Instagram account, purporting to show the lead-up to the scrap.
Mayers appears to repeatedly ask the man and his friend to stop following him and his entourage. The prosecution argued that the Instagram videos were heavily edited.
Much of the trial also focused on whether a bottle was used as the plaintiff suffered cuts that medical examiners said seemed to be from glass.
In its verdict, the court said that Mayers and two members of his entourage’s actions were not severe enough to warrant more time in prison.
“The accused have no criminal record during the past five years … (and) there is no reason to fear that the accused are going to be repeat offenders,” it said.


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United States

Swedish court finds US rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault

US rapper A$AP Rocky. Photo: AFP

A man hands out documents, surrounded by the media, after U.S. rapper ASAP Rocky (not pictured), whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was sentenced to probation at Stockholm District Court, Sweden August 14, 2019. The rapper was arrested on suspicion of assault on July 3rd and detained for 4 weeks in Stockholm, after which, he returned to the U.S and was not legally obliged to remain in Sweden. Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT.

Slobodan Jovicic, Swedish lawyer of US rapper ASAP Rocky, gives a statement to comment on ASAP Rocky's verdict during a press conference in Uppsala, Sweden on August 14, 2019. - A Stockholm court convicted US rapper A$AP Rocky of assault and handed him a suspended sentence over a street brawl in June 2019, a case that outraged fans and stoked diplomatic tensions. (Photo by Fredrik SANDBERG / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT

A copy of the court verdict on American rapper A$AP Rocky and two others, as distributed and arranged to be photographed at Stockholm District Court, in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday Aug. 14, 2019. Swedish court on Wednesday found American rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault for his role in a June 30 street brawl in Stockholm. (Anders Wiklund / TT via AP)

Freed from Swedish jail, rapper A$AP Rocky back in the US

US rapper A$AP Rocky. Photo: Reuters

Renee Black, centre, mother of American rapper A$AP Rocky, leaves the district court in Stockholm, following the second day of testimony Thursday Aug. 1, 2019. Pleading not guilty American rapper A$AP Rocky testified in court Thursday, as he stands on charges of assault.(Fredrik Persson / TT via AP)

One of A$AP Rocky's bodyguards arrives at the district court in Stockholm, Friday Aug. 2, 2019, the third day of A$AP Rocky's trial. American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with two men he said were persistently following his entourage in Stockholm, but one of those men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. (Fredrik Persson/TT via AP)

US rapper A$AP Rocky charged with assault after street brawl in Sweden

A$AP Rocky. Photo: AFP

Rapper A$AP Rocky performs at the Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas 2019 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on May 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nev. A$AP Rocky was arrested early Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden, on suspicion of gross assault. (Steven Lawton/Getty Images/TNS)

FILE PHOTO: 2017 BET Awards – Show – Los Angeles, California, U.S., 25/06/2017 - Mary J. Blige and A$AP Rocky perform. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni -/File Photo

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However he did not get time as the Stockholm court found the assault was not ‘of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen’



However he did not get jail time as the Stockholm district court found the assault was not ‘of such a serious nature that prison sentence must be chosen’.


Crime

Swedish court finds US rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} However he did not get time as the Stockholm court found the assault was not ‘of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen’

However he did not get time as the Stockholm court found the assault was not ‘of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen’