U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky pleads self-defense at assault trial
Updated 23:45, 30-Jul-2019
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U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault at his trial in Sweden Tuesday over a street brawl, saying he acted in self-defense in a case that has stirred diplomatic tensions and outraged fans.

The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3 along with three other people following the fight in Stockholm on June 30. One of them, the rapper's bodyguard, was later released.

Part of the brawl was captured in an amateur video published by U.S. celebrity news outlet TMZ, where the rapper can be seen throwing a young man to the ground and then aiming several punches at him while he is down.

Mayers, who faces a jail term of up to two years if convicted of assault, has claimed he was acting in self-defense, saying he was responding to harassment and provocations by the plaintiff. 

Reporters are outside the district court in Stockholm, where U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky faces assault charges over a June street brawl, July 30, 2019. /VCG Photo

Reporters are outside the district court in Stockholm, where U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky faces assault charges over a June street brawl, July 30, 2019. /VCG Photo

Tuesday's trial started at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) at the Stockholm District Court. 

"He admits that he threw the plaintiff on the ground, that he stepped on his arm and punched or pushed his shoulder," Mayers' lawyer Slobodan Jovicic told the court, but added that it was a case of "self-defense." The precise circumstances of the brawl remain unclear.

Before his arrest, videos published on A$AP Rocky’s Instagram that the young man can be seen arguing with the musician over a pair of headphones and the artist appears to repeatedly ask the man and his friend to stop following him and his entourage. One of the young men can also be seen hitting the artist's bodyguard.

A separate investigation into the plaintiff was dropped with prosecutors saying his actions were in self-defense.

Despite the rapper's own plea of self-defense, prosecutor Daniel Suneson decided to press assault charges against the musician and two members of his entourage on July 25, stating that he believed what happened still amounted to a crime.

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert C. O'Brien walks outside the courtroom for U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky's trial in Stockholm, Sweden, July 30, 2019. /VCG Photo

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert C. O'Brien walks outside the courtroom for U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky's trial in Stockholm, Sweden, July 30, 2019. /VCG Photo

In announcing his decision to press charges, Suneson stressed that he "had more material to consider than what has been available on the internet."

According to the charge document filed with the Stockholm District Court, the evidence includes surveillance footage, witness testimony and text conversations. The prosecutor says they prove there was no need for self-defense and that a bottle was used as a weapon in the alleged assault.

Photos of the alleged victim, taken by investigators, were published by Swedish media last week, revealing wounds seemingly caused by a sharp object.

Swedish law enforcement has also been accused of racism. Former U.S. ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski called the rapper's arrest a matter of "racial injustice." A$AP Rocky's lawyer Jovicic told a press briefing last week that he thought Sweden was "not a racist society."

The musician, who had his breakthrough in 2011 with the release of the mixtape "Live. Love. A$AP," was on a European tour and has had to cancel over a dozen shows following his arrest.

Throughout his detention, fans, fellow artists and U.S. Congress members have campaigned for his release.

Source(s): AFP