American rapper A$AP Rocky was found guilty of assault in Sweden and given a suspended sentence.
The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Myers, was not present in the Swedish court on Wednesday when he was convicted of assault stemming from a confrontation in Stockholm on June 30. Two members of Rocky’s entourage were also found guilty of assault on Wednesday; their sentences will be determined at a later date.
Rocky made international headlines after his arrest following the street scuffle led to weeks of imprisonment before Swedish prosecutors were able to prepare their case against the rapper and his associates. Many in the United States advocated for his release, including President Trump and Kim Kardashian West. He was freed on August 2 and immediately returned to the United States.
Rocky, 30, alleges that the assault charge did not take into account that the man he and his entourage tangled with had been following and harassing them. Mustafa Jafari, 19, whom Swedish courts consider to be the victim of the assault, is shown on video as possibly provoking the rapper as he walked through the streets of Stockholm. Rocky described that man’s behavior as “hostile” and asserted to prosecutors that the situation was “a little scary.”
Prosecutors felt that Rocky and his entourage exhibited too much force in their retaliation, however, accusing men of hitting Jafari with bottles.
“Based on statements from two witnesses, the court finds that the defendants were not subject to a current or imminent criminal attack,” a court statement said, “Therefore, they were not in a situation where they were entitled to use violence in self-defense.”
The presiding judge in the case did not find sufficient evidence of brutality in the crime and suggested that further prison time would likely be unnecessary.
“The prosecutor has not been able to prove that the victim was struck in the back of the head with a bottle or that he was in any other way assaulted with bottles,” Senior Judge Per Lennerbrant said in a statement. “This has affected the assessment of the seriousness of the crime.”
Rocky and the two other men involved in the incident are expected to pay damages to Jafari.
