The 30-year old US rapper A$AP Rocky is conditionally sentenced after being found guilty of assault by the Stockholm District Court in ruling on Wednesday. The artist and three of his crew members were detained in the Swedish Capital after a street brawl on June 30.
The rapper who had received a flurry of support following the incident back home has always maintained that they had acted in self-defense. The Swedish court, in its ruling, rejected the rapper’s claim and based on the statements of eyewitnesses, the defendants not subject to a current or imminent attack. Therefore, they are not entitled to use violence in self-defense.
The public prosecutor Daniel Suneson had accused the three men of kicking and beating the victim with a broken or whole bottle in his argument. However, the court found the evidence not conclusive and rejected the appeal. A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers was released from detention on August 2 pending verdict for assaulting a 19-year-old.
Condition sentence calls for two years probationary period and no further jail time. The court order the 3 accused to pay 12,500 Swedish Krona( $1,300) as damages to the victim for violating his integrity, pain, and suffering. Further, 80,610 Swedish Krona nearly $8,400 against the judicial proceedings.
The rapper’s arrest had strained diplomatic relations between the two countries with President Trump demanding his release to the Swedish Prime Minister.
Hopefully, we do not have to go to jail; the artist addresses the audience at a music festival in California on Sunday, reports Reuters his first public appearance after the incident. The actor is very disappointed, told his lawyer in a press conference after the verdict.