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Agence France-Presse

Swedish politicians on Friday fired back at US President Donald Trump after he rowed with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven over Stockholm’s move to press assault charges against American rapper A$AP Rocky.
Several Swedish politicians protested Trump’s remarks after the president took to Twitter on Thursday to express his frustration.
“Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Lofven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States,” Trump tweeted, adding: “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM.”
He also tweeted “We do so much for Sweden but it does not seem to work the other way around.”
A$AP Rocky charged with assault over fight in Sweden
But Swedish politicians were quick to offer rebuttals, with some highlighting that the charges against the rapper, stemming from a June street brawl in Stockholm, were laid by prosecutors and were not arbitrary.
“So, what is it you do for us MR President?,” MEP Fredrick Federley tweeted.

Former prime minister Carl Bildt echoed earlier responses by the Swedish government and pointed to the independence of the Swedish judiciary.
“That is the way it is in the US, and that is certainly the way it is in Sweden. Political interference in the process is distinctly off limits! Clear?” Bildt tweeted.
In a comment to newspaper Aftonbladet, Bildt also commended the government for choosing not to engage, saying it was wise to avoid “mud wrestling with Trump”.
Natali Sial, a spokeswoman for the Swedish government, said they did not have anything further to add after Trump’s latest statements.
“In Sweden everyone is equal before the law. The White House has been informed of this. Now the judicial process will run its course,” Sial said.
I will guarantee bail for A$AP Rocky, Trump tells Swedish PM
Former US ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji also chimed in to show support for the Scandinavian nation.
“As Sweden leads by example in showing that everyone is equal before the law, the US struggles to show that no one is above the law,” Raji wrote on Twitter.
The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3 along with three other people following the brawl on June 30. One of the others, the rapper’s bodyguard, was later released.
Mayers claims he acted in self-defence. But on Thursday prosecutor Daniel Suneson said he was pressing charges against Mayers and the two others “because in my judgement what has happened amounts to a crime, despite the objections about self-defence and provocations.”
Part of the fight was captured in an amateur video published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ. The rapper later published videos of his own to Instagram purporting to show the lead-up to the fight.

But Suneson said he has “more material to consider than what has been available on the internet”.
On July 5, the court ordered Mayers kept in custody pending investigation as he was considered a “flight risk”.
Suneson’s decision to press charges means the rapper can be kept in custody until his trial, which is expected to take place over three days, starting on July 30.
Assault carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail in Sweden.
Since his arrest, fans, fellow artists and US Congress members have campaigned for his release.
An online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 630,000 signatures.
On Tuesday, one fan was arrested at the Swedish embassy in Washington after she allegedly damaged property and swore at staff in protest at the country’s treatment of the rapper.
The musician, who had his breakthrough in 2011 with the release of the mixtape “Live. Love. A$AP”, was on a European tour at the time of his arrest and has already had to cancel over a dozen shows.


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Donald Trump

Swedish politicians slam Donald Trump for rapper A$AP Rocky ‘interference’

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Bloomberg

Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven gives a press conference after being elected for a second term as prime minister on January 18, 2019 in Stockholm. - Sweden ended a four-month political vacuum when lawmakers elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to a second term, after he elbowed out the far-right to save one of Europe's few left-wing governments. Lofven's new minority centre-left government -- comprising his Social Democrats and the Greens -- won the backing of the Centre and Liberal parties, until now members of the four-party centre-right opposition Alliance. (Photo by Jessica GOW / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT

American rapper A$AP Rocky. Photo: AFP

Donald Trump plans intervention after Sweden extends US rapper A$AP Rocky’s detention over Stockholm street fight

A$AP Rocky at a Grammy event n February. Photo: AP

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, July 19, 2019. Trump welcomed former Apollo 11 astronauts to the White House on Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, as his administration continues to wrestle with the next step in U.S. space exploration. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Members of the entourage of US rapper Rakim Mayers, known by his stage name Asap Rocky, leave a courtroom after a hearing in his trial over a street brawl on July 5, 2019 in Stockholm. - Asap Rocky was arrested in Stockholm, suspected of aggravated assault, after a street brawl part of which was caught on video. In the video, the rapper, who was in Stockholm for a concert, can be seen throwing a young man into the street then aiming several punches at him while the man is on the ground. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch (R) leaves the Ministry for Foreign Affairs after he met with US rapper Asap Rocky at the Kronoberg custody in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 19, 2019. - A Stockholm court Friday ordered that US rapper ASAP Rocky whose real name is Rakim Mayers, detained in Sweden on assault allegations, should be kept in custody for another week while the prosecutor completes his investigation. (Photo by Erik SIMANDER / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT

A$AP Rocky performing in Los Angeles, California in November 2014. Photo: Reuters

I will guarantee bail for A$AP Rocky, Donald Trump tells Sweden’s Stefan Lofven

Rapper A$AP Rocky. Photo: AFP

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven arrives for the third straight day of a European Union leaders summit in Brussels on July 2, 2019, for talks aimed at defusing fresh power struggles in a bid to fill the bloc's top jobs. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / POOL / AFP)

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the media on the South Lawn before departing the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

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Several politicians said the charges against the singer, stemming from a street brawl in Stockholm, were not arbitrary
Former PM Carl Bildt said it was wise to avoid ‘mud wrestling with Trump’


Several politicians said the charges against the singer, stemming from a street brawl in Stockholm, were not arbitrary.


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