Swedish prosecutor seeks jail sentence of at least 6 months for A$AP Rocky

A Swedish prosecutor on Friday asked a court to convict A$AP Rocky and two members of his entourage for beating up a 19-year-old man in Stockholm — and impose a jail sentence of at least six months.

The 30-year-old Harlem-born rapper — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — was arrested three days after the June 30 brawl in Stockholm that has caught the attention of President Trump.

If found guilty of violent assault, Rocky, Bladimir Emilio Corniel and David Tyrone Rispers face up to two years behind bars in the attack on Mustafa Jafari, 19, who is seeking more than $14,000 in damages.

“I have been a lawyer for 20 years, and I have never had a client who has been so scared,” Jafari’s counsel said. “He feels no resentment toward any of the accused, but justice must be served.”

Rocky, who pleaded not guilty ahead of his trial, said he would be willing to perform community sentence if that was his sentence, according to Reuters.

The rapper was expected to learn later Friday, the final day of the trial, if he will be released or continue to be held until the verdict is rendered, which could take up to two weeks.

“You know my address, you know my lawyer’s address,” a relaxed-looking Rocky said in court, where he appeared in a black suit rather than the green prison garb he had worn on earlier days of the trial.
“I’m into charity work.”

A legal expert at the Swedish Prosecution Authority said if the judge decides not to detain Rocky further, he will be free to leave the country, where he had gone to headline a two-day hip-hop festival.

If he is released, it could point to a verdict of not guilty or that any sentence would be shorter than the time Rocky and his pals have already spent in custody.

Rocky’s lawyer Slobodan Jovicic urged the court to release his client.

“It is my opinion that there is no basis to believe that the description of the crime applies to my client, (and) that he should be acquitted and set free today,” Jovicic told the court, according to AFP.

Rocky earlier told the court that he had acted in self-defense in the fracas, which was partially captured on videos, after his bodyguard was attacked.

But prosecutor Daniel Suneson said during closing arguments that the suspect did not seem “scared” like he had claimed — and argued that there was never a need for self-defense.

“We have three people who throw out punches and kicks against a person who is lying down. Their violence is clearly indefensible,” Suneson said. “I don’t see how anything but prison is up for discussion.”

Rocky’s bodyguard, Timothy Leon Williams, testified Friday that Jafari’s strange behavior and “glossy” eyes alerted him that something was not right.

“I’m noticing it because I’m a bodyguard. I’m looking at him and saw that his eyes were really glossy, like he’s on something,” Williams told the court about the encounter outside a restaurant.

Meanwhile, Judge Per Lennerbrant ruled Friday that a new piece of evidence submitted by the defense was allowed, overriding the prosecution’s objections.

It involved a prior assault conviction against Jafari, which the defense argued addressed the alleged victim’s reliability and previous behavior.

Jafari has alleged that he was attacked by Rocky and his entourage when he followed them to ask about a pair of headphones that were broken in an earlier scuffle with the rapper’s bodyguard.

Much of the trial has centered around analyzing video footage and whether bottles had been used as weapons during the incident.

Rocky has conceded that he threw Jafari to the ground and “kicked his arm,” but denied the prosecution’s claim that he struck Jafari with a bottle.

During earlier testimony Friday, two women who witnessed the brawl said they did not actually see Rocky or the others use bottles as weapons.

One of the two women said she heard a bottle being crushed but could not say whether Rocky’s entourage threw it to the ground or hit Jafari with it. She also said she didn’t see the rapper holding a bottle.

The trial has created a stir in US-Swedish diplomatic relations after Trump weighed in to support the Grammy-nominated artist.

The president has spoken with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, offering to personally guarantee Rocky’s bail, but the Swedish leader said he couldn’t interfere in the legal case.

On Friday, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said it has rejected a request by Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, Robert O’Brien, to release Rocky and the other two suspects, according to The Washington Post.

Authority spokeswoman Karin Rosander said that a US Embassy letter signed by the envoy demanded that the three suspects be transferred to a hotel.

She said she was unaware of any similar request by any other nation in the past.

A spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Stockholm told The Washington Post in a statement that the embassy was “unable to comment on diplomatic exchanges.”

O’Brien refused to answer questions when approached inside the courtroom Friday.

Social media campaigns have urged fans to boycott Swedish brands such as IKEA and an online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 640,000 signatures.

About two dozen supporters of the artist best known for his song “Praise the Lord” gathered outside the court Friday chanting “Free Rocky” and playing his music.

One fan, Emina Moreira, 19, said the rapper has been treated unfairly by the Swedish court system — and blamed racism as a possible cause.

But Zakaria Anwar, a 26-year-old industrial engineering student in Stockholm who also is a fan, said he trusts the Swedish justice system — even if Rocky and the others are convicted.

He said he was proud of Sweden for sticking to its rules and “not trying to get affected by things Donald Trump is saying.”

“Justice is the most important thing,” he said, according to The Washington Post.

With Post wires