Sweden: A$AP Rocky Found Guilty of Assault—but No Jail Time

Hip-hop star A$AP Rocky was found guilty of assault by a Swedish court on Wednesday, but was spared further jail time.

The artist, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, earlier pleaded self-defense and said he had tried to avoid a June 30th confrontation in Stockholm with two men who were persistently following his entourage. One of them picked a fight with one of Mayers’ two bodyguards, the rapper told the Stockholm District Court.

The court said the defendants “were not in a situation” where they were entitled to self-defense and that they “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him.” As a result, the three defendants were “convicted of assault and sentenced to conditional sentences.”

That means the three face no prison sentence in Sweden unless they commit a similar offense in the country again.

The three were released August 2nd pending the verdict. All returned to the United States and are not legally obliged to be present in Stockholm.

At the urging of celebrities such as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, President Donald Trump called on Sweden to release A$AP Rocky from jail and even called Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to personally guarantee the rapper’s bail. However, because the Scandinavian is without a bail system, the rapper remained behind bars. President Trump has taken to Twitter to criticize Lofven “for being unable to act.”

“Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM,” the president tweeted at the time. “We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky.”

The Trump administration sent the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Ambassador Robert O’Brien, to Stockholm to monitor the court proceedings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.