Witnesses at A$AP Rocky trial didn’t see rapper hit man with bottle

Two women who witnessed the brawl involving A$AP Rocky told a Swedish court Friday that they did not actually see the Harlem-born rapper or his friends hit a 19-year-old man with a bottle.

One of the women testified that she had been eating with her friend at a fast-food eatery in Stockholm on the evening on June 30 when they saw Rocky — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — and his entourage encountering Mustafa Jafari outside.

The two women rushed outside to have a photo taken with Rocky but that a fracas had erupted.

Rocky, 30, pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial Tuesday, saying he acted in self-defense when Jafari and another man would not leave them alone. Two other suspects also are charged.

Meanwhile, the Swedish prosecution authority on Friday said it has rejected a request by President Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, Robert O’Brien, to release Rocky and two of his associates, according to The Washington Post.

The woman testified that 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 during the scuffle.

Her friend testified that she didn’t see anyone hitting Jafari with a bottle — though both women said they saw Rocky and his partners beating and kicking Jafari.

“Everything happened very quickly. We were scared for our lives,” the first woman testified. “He (Jafari) was bleeding. He showed his injuries on his hand. He also said he had a sore back.”

The two witnesses, who testified anonymously, were questioned via video link at Stockholm District Court, where Rocky appeared while clad in a black suit after swapping the green prison clothes he
wore for the first two days of the trial and appeared more relaxed.

About of his fans gathered outside the court chanting “Free Rocky” and playing his music.

The trial has created a stir in US-Swedish diplomatic relations after President 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.

A spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecution authority, which rejected O’Brien’s request to release Rocky, said Friday that a US Embassy letter signed by the envoy demanded that the three suspects be transferred to a hotel.

Karin Rosander 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.

With Post wires