A$AP Rocky assault trial: prosecutor calls for six-month sentence
August 5, 2019US rapper has been in detention since 3 July over incident in Swedish capital
A Swedish prosecutor has demanded that A$AP Rocky serve six months in prison for assault causing actual bodily harm in a case that that has outraged the US rappers fans and inflamed transatlantic relations.
The prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, told the court in Stockholm the musician, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, should serve a longer sentence than two members of his crew who are also accused of attacking the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, in a street brawl in the centre of the Swedish capital on 30 June.
For several reasons, I do not think that anything other than a prison sentence is appropriate in this case, the prosecutor said, demanding that Mayers and his two companions remain in custody because of the risk they might flee the country.
The three have been in detention since 3 July in connection with the incident, prompting celebrities, including Kim Kardashian West, Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Shawn Mendes, to back a #JusticeForRocky campaign and Donald Trump to publicly demand Mayers release.
The prosecution alleges that after a violent altercation over a pair of headphones, Mayers, 30, threw Jafari, 19, to the ground, after which he and his two companions kicked and punched him and hit him on the body and head with a bottle.
Two women who witnessed the brawl told the court on Friday they were in a restaurant when they recognised the platinum-selling rapper outside. They saw him push Jafari over and punch or kick him, they said, but could not confirm he had used a bottle as a weapon.
Profile
Who is A$AP Rocky?
Named after one half of the hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, Rakim Athelaston Mayers was born in New York in 1988. He adopted the name A$AP Rocky when he began his career in 2007, joining the A$AP Mob crew.
Mayers had a troubled childhood. His elder brother was murdered, his dad was arrested for drug dealing, and he spent some time moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister. His older sister died of a drug overdose in 2016. Mayers himself served two weeks in prison for drug dealing in 2004.
He came to prominence with the release of the mixtape Live.Love.A$AP in 2011. Having signed to a major-label deal for a reported $3m, his 2013 debut album, Long.Live.A$AP debuted at No 1 on the US Billboard 200. Follow-up At.Long.Last.A$AP was also a No 1 album in the US, certified as a platinum seller, and featured a seemingly unlikely collaboration with Rod Stewart.
His creative partner and best friend A$AP Yams (Steven Rodriguez) died in January 2015 in an accidental drug overdose. In 2016, Mayers became the first African-American to be the face of Dior Homme.
In 2013, he was charged with slapping a woman at Philadelphia’s Made in America festival. This was eventually settled out of court in 2015. He has been involved in other altercations, in Toronto, New Zealand, and London, the latterinvolving a bagel and an Uber in Brick Lane. He unexpectedly declared a love of the Piccadilly Line while delivering the Red Bull Music Academy lecturein the city, and has collaborated with British rapper Skepta on the acclaimed track Praise the Lord (Da Shine).
He has caused controversy by appearing to describe the Black Lives Matter movement as a bandwagon, saying I dont wanna talk about no fucking Ferguson and shit because I dont live over there. I live in fucking SoHo and Beverly Hills. I cant relate.
Jafari is claiming SEK 139,700 (12,050) in damages for the alleged attack, which left him needing hospital treatment for cuts to his arms, legs and head and a fractured rib.
Mayers and the two members of his entourage have conceded hitting the plaintiff but denied using a bottle. All said they were responding to harassment and provocations and have pleaded not guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.
Mayers, whose first two albums went to No 1 in the US, told the court on Thursday he had been attacked several times in recent years and had been shocked and scared by the incident. He repeatedly asked Jafari to leave him and his entourage alone, he said.
Mayers arrived in court for the trial, which the presiding judge Per Lennerbrant has said could be extended to Monday, in a dark suit instead of the green prison uniform he had previously worn. His mother, Renee Black, was also in the courtroom.
The court discussed whether a previous assault conviction against Jafari should be admitted as evidence, with Mayers defence team arguing it spoke to previous behaviour. The prosecution said it was irrelevant.
Unless the trial is extended, Lennebrandt will decide on Friday whether Mayers and his co-defendants will remain in custody pending the verdict, which is likely to come at a later date.
Releasing him from custody could indicate the rapper will be found not guilty or that a guilty verdict would lead only to a suspended sentence or a prison sentence shorter than the time the rapper has already spent in a cell, legal experts have said.
Much of the trial has centred on the video evidence, some of which appeared on the celebrity news site TMZ and, in edited form, on Mayers Instagram page, and the question of whether a bottle had been used.
The case sparked a diplomatic spat after Kardashian West appealed directly to Trump, prompting the president to call the Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lfven, and offer to personally vouch for [Mayers] bail, or an alternative.
Lfven said that in the Swedish judicial system, prosecutors and courts were independent, after which Trump tweeted that he was very disappointed, adding: Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesnt seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem!
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us
