American rapper, A$AP Rocky and two of his friends have been found guilty by Swedish court where they were standing trial for assaulting two men in a street brawl.
The Swedish Court rather than sentence the rapper who is already in his home country of the United States of American, ordered him and his friend to pay a fine of SEK 12,500, which is about $1,300.
The rapper was released on August 2nd 2019, pending when the Swedish Court decides his fate. The announcement in court was met with cheer from onlookers. A$AP is free to leave Sweden while they await a verdict, which was given today August 14th 2019.
Prosecutors had asked that Rocky and his friends who have spent a month in jail remain there because he was a flight risk, but the judges disagreed.
After the three-day trial, prosecutors told the court they believed a jail sentence was required and wanted A$AP to serve six months behind bars.
In his closing argument, Swedish prosecutor Daniel Suneson argued that A$AP should be sentenced harsher than the other defendants. Suneson said, “I don’t think anything other than jail is possible.”
He explained that he and his friends just wanted to walk around Sweden, get some air, and check out the sites. He said things were going well and they even took electric scooters to help get around.
He said people started to approach his security guard but A$AP didn’t pay much attention and the security guard asked them to leave. Next thing A$AP knows, the security guard grabs the alleged victim by the collar and moves him out of the way.
A$AP said the situation was a little scary and he said he “assumed that these guys were under the influence of some kind of drug.”
He testified that he and his friends tried to tell the guy, “Listen, don’t go where we are going, go the other way, we don’t want any trouble.”
A$AP said the guy was persistent and A$AP says he put a hand on the guy’s shoulder, in a “peaceful way,” and told him, “Look, man, we do not want to fight. We do not want problems. We do not want to go to prison. Please go.”
A point of contention throughout the trial was the alleged use of bottles during the fight.
A$AP said he and his friends noticed bottles on the ground. He testified they picked them up because they “didn’t want them to get hold of these bottles, to have them in their possession.” He says eventually he got rid of it.
The rapper with this judgment from the Swedish Court should be able to pay the $1,300 fine or write a cheque and send to them…imagine spending weeks in jail when they could have probably asked him to pay a fine and go!