A court in Stockholm has found the American rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault in a case that earlier this year led to a US-Swedish spat when Donald Trump attempted to secure his release.
The artist, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, claimed he was acting in self-defence during a 30 June street brawl in the Swedish capital, where he said he tried to avoid a confrontation with two men who were persistently following his entourage.
One of them picked a fight with one of Mayers’ bodyguards, the rapper told the Stockholm district court.
The ruling on Tuesday said the defendants “were not in a situation” where they were entitled to self-defence and that they “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him”.
As a result, the three were “convicted of assault and sentenced to conditional sentences”. It means that they won’t face a prison sentence in Sweden unless they commit a similar offence in the country again.
The 30-year-old rapper and his two bodyguards were released earlier this month pending the verdict. All three have returned to the US and are not legally obliged to be present in Stockholm.
Earlier this summer, Trump tweeted that he was working to secure the musician’s release. In one tweet, the US president stated: “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM, We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around.”
Trump also directly addressed the Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven, who refused to get involved in the case after previous advocacy from Trump. Löfven’s office said in a statement that “in Sweden everyone is equal before the law”.
The intervention from the White House came after celebrities including Kim Kardashian West and Justin Bieber rallied behind the rapper. Kardashian West, whose husband Kanye West has been a vocal supporter of the US president, directly appealed to Trump to help Mayers, prompting Trump to tweet that he was working to free the rapper.
Trump’s subsequent outburst followed an announcement by the Swedish prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, that he had filed charges against the rapper and two members of his entourage, “having come to the conclusion that the events in question constitute a crime despite claims of self-defence and provocation”.
Footage on the celebrity news site TMZ had shown Mayers hurling a man to the ground as he and his entourage punched and kicked him. Other members of his entourage were filmed attacking another man.
The rapper subsequently posted a video on Instagram that showed him being followed by the two men who were later attacked, arguing: “We don’t know these guys and we didn’t want trouble, they followed us for four blocks.” Assault carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail in Sweden.
In a post last week, Mayers expressed thanks “from the bottom of my heart” to his fans, friends and others who had supported him during the last few weeks.
“I can’t begin to describe how grateful I am for all of you. This has been a very difficult and humbling experience,” said the rapper, who thanked the court for allowing him and the others to return to their families.
