American rapper, Rakim Mayers, known by his stage name, Asap Rocky has been found guilty of assault in a Swedish court but has also avoided jail time.
The 30-year-old who has been in a long and windy legal battle since he was arrested on July 3rd this year for assaulting a 19-year-old in Stockholm. He had been in Stockholm, Sweden to perform at a festival but he had gotten into a fight with two men who had been following him and his entourage on the 30th of June. He was then arrested on the 3rd with two members of his entourage – Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers – for aggravated assault.
The victim, Mustafa Jafari had claimed that he had been hit on the head by ASAP Rocky with a glass bottle but the court threw out those claims because the prosecutor could not prove the extent of the seriousness of the attack. He has, however, been awarded damages worth 12,500 Swedish krona which is roughly $1,300 from the rapper and his entourage.
Asap Rocky was given the suspended sentence after the court found that the assault was not “of such a serious nature” as to warrant more time behind bars. This is because the 2-time Grammy award nominee had already spent about a month in a Swedish jail before he eventually appeared in court. This time he had spent in jail had caused a lot of drama in the United States.
The issue had attracted the attention of Kim Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West, as well as Rod Stewart and President Donald Trump.
All concerned parties had all requested and demanded that he be released especially after rumours that he was being held in inhumane conditions at the jail spread. His arrest even led to some tension between the Prime Minister of Sweden and Donald Trump until he was eventually released after his first appearance in court. There were also accusations of systemic racism, with claims that the reason why it was taking such a long time to release ASAP was that he is black.
However, the drama has now come to an end as the Senior Judge presiding over the court, Per Lennerbrant refused to grant prosecutors’ request that ASAP Rocky should be given a jail time of not less than six months. He instead just ordered the rapper and his entourage to pay the damages to Mustafa. His decision was based on the fact that the prosecution failed to prove the extent of the seriousness of the attack. The court said that Mustafa was awarded damages for what they described as the violation of his integrity and for pain and suffering.