A$AP Rocky Found Guilty Of Assault In Sweden, But Won’t Serve Jail Time
A$AP Rocky was convicted of assault but will not face jail time, Swedish prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
The hip-hop star was not present when the verdict was announced. He was facing up to two years in prison.
Rocky and two members of his entourage were accused of beating 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari on June 30 in Stockholm, where the rapper was visiting during the European leg of his tour.
“All three defendants are convicted of assault and sentenced to conditional sentences,” the statement said. “The court finds that the defendants were not in a situation where they were entitled to self-defense and that they have assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him. However, it has not been proven that the defendants struck the victim in the head with a bottle or assaulted him with whole or broken bottles.”
“The victim is awarded damages for violation of his integrity and pain and suffering, but less than he requested,” the statement continues. “The defendants shall, each based on their financial ability, repay the state for its expenses for public legal counsels.”
“In an overall assessment the court finds that the assault has not been of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen,” the statement continued. “The defendants are therefore sentenced to conditional sentences.”
Rocky and his co-defendants will have to pay Jafari about $1300, according to the judgment.
The three were released on August 2 and returned to the U.S. after being held in Swedish detention for two months.
The rapper, born Rakim Mayers, testified at his trial that he and his companions were followed and harassed by Jafari and another man prior to the brawl and that they repeatedly asked the men to leave them alone.
He said that Jafari instigated a fight with the rapper’s bodyguard and that they “begged and pleaded” with the two men for a peaceful outcome before they were driven to act in self-defense.
President Donald Trump repeatedly called for the rapper’s release and lashed out at Sweden’s prime minister on Twitter after Rocky was charged last month. Following the August 2 ruling that the rapper would be released, Trump posted on Twitter: “A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!.”
The rapper’s case sparked outrage in the hip-hop community and in Hollywood and even on Capitol Hill, where Rocky’s congressman and members of the Congressional Black Caucus rallied to call for his release.
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