PresidentDonald Trumpthis week voiced his all-caps dismay at being unable to persuade Swedish authorities to drop the assault against rapper A$AP Rocky.
Using the hashtag #FreeRocky, Trumptweeted on Thursdaythat he was “very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act.”
The 30-year-old rapper, né Rakim Athelaston Mayers, has been in Swedish custodyfor much of the monthfollowing his involvement in a street altercation in Stockholm.
According to Reuters, he said he and his group were provoked and are innocent.
Rocky was in Stockholm to perform at the Smash hip hop festival.
A Swedish government spokesman told Reuters they were not able to intervene in the case despite Trump’s efforts:
“Sweden and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven have been very clear in the dialogue with both the White House and directly with the American president, that in Sweden everyone is equal before the law and that the government cannot interfere in legal proceedings,” the spokesman said in a text message.
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Donald Trump.
On Thursday, prosecutor Daniel Suneson announced Rocky would stand trial for “assault causing actual bodily harm” with a trial date likely set next week. Prosecutors will rely heavily on eyewitness accounts and video footage, Suneson said.
A source previously told PEOPLE that Rocky had been heldin “inhumane” and “horrific” conditionsin Sweden, though officials disputed this. (TMZfirst reportedthe news.)
“Rocky is now being detained for an unknown period of time until they have a trial and he is having his legal and basic human rights ignored while being forced to live in inhumane conditions — all for acting in self-defense,” the source contended at the time.
Suneson, the prosecutor, said Rocky is being tried on only one allegation of assault after the other was dropped for lack of evidence.
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President Trump was made aware of the case in recent days, in part thanks toKim KardashianWest and her husband,Kanye West. Kardashian West hasbecome a White House allyin the push on criminal justice reform — a rare spot of bipartisanship for the divisive Trump administration. She appealed to the president about Rocky’s arrest,a source told PEOPLE.
Trump later told reporters First LadyMelania Trumpalso brought Rocky’s case to his attention, and he tweeted last week thathe would speak with Sweden’s prime ministerabout it.
“So many people would like to see this quickly resolved,” Trump tweeted then.
source: people.com
