Christina Anderson and Alex Marshall

But he will not serve any more jail time, having already spent over a month in a Swedish detention center.

Swedish prosecutors had sought a six-month prison sentence for Rocky for his part in a street brawl in Stockholm on June 30 that left a 19-year-old man bleeding and needing medical treatment.

But a panel of four judges, led by Senior Judge Per Lennerbrant, found that the assault was not of such a “serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen.”

Rocky, 30, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, said this month during the trial that he had acted in self-defense when he threw the man, Mustafa Jafari, to the ground, and then, along with two members of his entourage, punched and kicked him.

Jafari had repeatedly harassed the rapper’s entourage and had thrown a punch at his bodyguard just before the attack, Rocky said.

The judges found his defense unconvincing.

“Based on two witness statements, the court finds the defendants were not subject to imminent attack,” the judgment said. “Therefore, the defendants were not entitled to use violence in self-defense.”

Rocky’s co-defendants, Bladimir Emilio Corniel and David Tyrone Rispers, received the same verdict and sentence. All three also were ordered to pay Jafari damages. In the trial, Jafari’s lawyer asked for about $16,000 in compensation, but the court awarded 12,500 Swedish kronor, about $1,300, for pain, insult and injuries.

Though the sentence represented a victory of sorts for Rocky, he said on Instagram that he was “disappointed by today’s verdict.”

Slobodan Jovicic, his lawyer, said that he did not know whether the rapper would appeal the verdict.

“The question is whether he’ll have the energy and stamina to do this one more time given all the circus around it,” he added.

Much of the discussion in the trial centered on whether a bottle was used in the assault. Jafari said he had been hit on the side of the head with one but was unable to say by whom. Rocky admitted picking up a bottle shortly before the fight but said he put it back down shortly afterward because he “realized it was stupid.”

“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,” Lennerbrant said in a news release. “This has affected the assessment of the seriousness of the crime,” he added.

Rocky and his two co-defendants served almost a month in detention in Sweden after they were arrested. Seen as flight risks, they were kept in the detention center from July 5 until the trial ended Aug. 2.

Trump became a close watcher of the case after the rap superstar Kanye West asked his wife, Kardashian West, to seek White House help in winning Rocky’s release from jail.

The president ramped up the pressure on Sweden, a longtime ally, beginning with a cordial phone call to the prime minister, then critical messages on Twitter, and, finally, by dispatching a special envoy for hostage affairs, Robert O’Brien, to watch over the trial.

In a letter to Swedish officials during the trial, O’Brien warned of “negative consequences” for American-Swedish relations if Rocky were not released.

Swedish officials, including the prime minister, said repeatedly that they would not intervene in the case, citing the rule of law.

Lennerbrant said in an interview after the verdict that Trump’s intervention had no effect on the decision.

“I have not been subjected to any political pressure nor has the district court,” he said.

In his Instagram post after the verdict, Rocky did not specifically mention the president’s interest in the case as he thanked “my team, my management, attorneys, label and everyone who advocated for justice.”

On Aug. 2, at the end of the trial, the judges allowed Rocky and his two co-defendants to be released while they awaited the verdict. They were not required to stay in Sweden and quickly returned to the United States.

Swedish legal experts said at the time that their release was a sign that defendants would most likely be found not guilty, or found guilty and sentenced to time served.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/arts/music/asap-rocky-guilty-assault.html" id="ff92a74f-367d-369a-a358-5da5efb923ec">The New York Times</a>.

ASAP Rocky Guilty of Assault in Sweden but Won't Face Prison Time

STOCKHOLM — It looked like a small-time assault case, but, somehow, it swept up Kim Kardashian West, President Donald Trump and the United States’ top hostage negotiator. And on Wednesday it finally reached its conclusion when judges here in Stockholm found rapper ASAP Rocky guilty of assault.

His fans and supporters in the courtroom erupted in cheers after the detention decision. “There is a God,” said Rocky’s mother, Renee Black.

Rocky’s arrest and jailing a month ago precipitated an outpouring of support and anger, with celebrities, fans, congressmen and eventually President Donald Trump demanding his release. Trump went so far as to send his special envoy for hostage affairs to the trial. But the Swedish authorities ordered Rocky to remain in jail as a flight risk before and during his trial, which ended Friday.

The judge, Per Lennerbrant, did not require Rocky or his co-defendants, Bladimir Emilio Corniel and David Tyrone Rispers, to remain in Sweden, and by nightfall, Rocky had already boarded a flight out of the country, Swedish media reported. He also posted a message on Instagram thanking the court and his supporters, saying that it “has been a very difficult and humbling experience.”

Though the men could be found guilty when the verdict is handed down on Aug. 14, their release was a victory in itself, following weeks of international diplomatic pressure that seemed, to Trump’s critics at least, disproportionate to the circumstances. The president called Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Lofven, to ask for his help, and after Trump was rebuffed, he went on a brief Twitter tirade against Lofven and the whole country.

The hostage envoy, Robert C. O’Brien, said he called Trump on Friday to deliver the news. The president cheered it on Twitter. “It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!” he wrote on Twitter. (The rapper’s name is often stylized as A$AP.)

Anne Ramberg, secretary-general of the Swedish Bar Association, said that the decision to release the three men was not unusual. She would not comment on the merits of the case, but said that their release would normally be a sign that they will be found not guilty, or if they are convicted, that they will be sentenced to time served.

During closing arguments Friday, a prosecutor argued that Rocky, a 30-year-old rap star from New York whose real name is Rakim Mayers, should be found guilty of assault and sentenced to six months in jail, saying the rapper had no justification for attacking a man who had been following him on a Stockholm street in June.

“I don’t think anything other than jail is possible,” said the prosecutor, Daniel Suneson.

On Thursday, Rocky told the court that he acted in self-defense when he threw, punched and kicked Mustafa Jafari, 19. He, along with Corniel and Rispers, who also were captured on video participating in the fight, said they had used reasonable force against Jafari, who had been refusing their entreaties to leave them alone.

Rocky could have called the police, Suneson said, noting that he was also accompanied by a bodyguard at the time. “They have used more violence than what was required to defend themselves,” Suneson said. “It was excessive.”

Slobodan Jovicic, Rocky’s lawyer, also took a firm line in his summation. “My client should be found not guilty and freed today,” he said.

Jafari had tried to hit Rocky’s bodyguard and had thrown a pair of headphones at him before Rocky struck him, Jovicic said.

Before the closing arguments Friday, the court heard from several witnesses. One supported Rocky’s account of the incident, while others contradicted it.

Rocky’s bodyguard, Timothy Williams, said that he had noticed “something green” in Jafari’s hand — the use of bottles in the scuffle was a major theme during the trial — and that Jafari, who was accompanied by a friend, swung a punch at him.

“It hit me lightly,” Williams said. “Then Rocky came to my defense because he saw it was a situation of two against one.”

Other witnesses recalled the events differently. Khadra Mohamed and Farhia Ali, both 18, witnessed the fight, and Mohamed recorded part of it. Both said they had not seen Jafari attacking anyone in Rocky’s group, though Mohamed said it was also possible she had missed it.

Mohamed said she saw Rocky throw Jafari. “His two friends then jumped in and started to hit him while he was on the ground,” she added. She was filming on Snapchat at the time, and that clip has been widely circulated online. But the video did not show all of the attack, she said. “They continued to hit him some more,” Mohamed said. Jafari suffered a broken rib and several cuts.

Throughout the three-day trial, the prosecution and defense returned repeatedly to the question of whether a bottle played any role in the incident, which could be considered an aggravating factor in determining the length of any sentence. Jafari said he believed he had been hit behind his right ear with a bottle, and though prosecutors said that Rocky and Corniel had been seen holding bottles (Rocky said he picked one up only to move it out of the way), no one at trial was able to say who, if anyone, hit Jafari with a bottle.

Jovicic, Rocky’s lawyer, argued that Jafari hadn’t been hit by a bottle at all. To make his case, he used a prop: a green glass bottle of Monistrol cava, a cheap sparkling wine, which he placed in front of the judge.

He said it was the same type of bottle as one that was found smashed at the scene. Jafari suffered a cut to his head, Jovicic said, but having a bottle like that smashed against your head would result in a graver injury, he argued.

On Aug. 14, he will know if his argument prevailed. His client’s own final plea was answered Friday.

“I would like to get a proper shower,” Rocky told the judge. “And then take it easy and be with my mother and friends.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/02/arts/music/asap-rocky-sweden.html" id="2ffb05ee-d363-30af-a47e-84f0820ffee7">The New York Times</a>.

ASAP Rocky Is Freed Pending Assault Verdict in Sweden

STOCKHOLM — ASAP Rocky was ordered released from jail Friday at the conclusion of his assault trial, after a judge said that he and two co-defendants could remain free while they awaited a verdict expected in two weeks.

Rocky’s arrest and jailing a month ago precipitated an outpouring of support and anger, with celebrities, fans, congressmen and eventually President Donald Trump demanding his release. Trump went so far as to send his special envoy for hostage affairs to the trial. But Swedish authorities ordered Rocky to remain in jail as a flight risk before and during his trial, which ended Friday.

The judge did not require Rocky or his two co-defendants, Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers, to remain in Sweden.

During closing arguments Friday, a prosecutor argued that Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, should be found guilty of assault and sentenced to six months in jail, saying the rapper had no justification for attacking a man who had been following him on a Stockholm street in June.

On Thursday, Rocky told the court that he acted in self-defense when he threw, punched and kicked Mustafa Jafari, 19. He, Corniel and Rispers said they used reasonable force against Jafari, who had been following them and refusing their entreaties to leave them alone.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/02/arts/music/asap-rocky-freed-trial.html" id="24f24a55-c854-3558-ae8d-8d01f9f55c9e">The New York Times</a>.

ASAP Rocky Is Ordered Freed From Jail Pending Verdict in Assault Trial

STOCKHOLM — ASAP Rocky was ordered released from jail Friday at the conclusion of his assault trial, after a judge ruled that he and two co-defendants could remain free while they awaited a verdict expected in two weeks.

So when Rocky went on trial here Tuesday along with two members of his entourage, few were very surprised when Robert C. O’Brien took a seat in the courtroom, joining the journalists and a handful of teenage rap fans and curious onlookers already assembled there.

O’Brien is the president’s special envoy for hostage affairs.

“The president asked me to come here and support these American citizens,” O’Brien said. “I’ll be here until they come home.”

Whether O’Brien was in for an extended Swedish stay will soon be decided, as a case that has become a low point in American-Scandinavian relations has come down to the judicial matter of whether the defendants had good reason to beat up a man on a Stockholm street a month ago.

Rocky, 30, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused of assaulting Mustafa Jafari, 19, on June 30 while the rapper was in the city to perform at a music festival. Rocky, along with his co-defendants, Bladimir Emilio Corniel and David Tyrone Rispers, all pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Rocky will not testify until the trial resumes Thursday, but according to a transcript of his police interview, he said that Jafari and another man had been harassing and following him and that he feared he was about to be attacked.

Jafari gave his side of the events Tuesday. Speaking in Persian through an interpreter, he said that he had been in town and had become separated from a friend when he came across Rocky and his group outside a burger restaurant and asked them if they had seen his friend.

Rocky’s bodyguard, who is named only as Tee in court papers, told him to go away, then pushed him, Jafari said. “If someone says in a nice way, ‘Go away from here,’ then you do,” he added. “But he just pushed me. What he did was wrong.”

Jafari said Rocky’s bodyguard then grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off the ground and carried him away from the group. In so doing, Jafari said, the bodyguard broke a pair of headphones Jafari was wearing. Jafari said he threw them at the security guard, then followed Rocky’s group around, complaining about his broken headphones. He didn’t know who Rocky was, he added.

The bodyguard, who was not charged, was not in court to give his account, but Slobodan Jovicic, Rocky’s lawyer, said the bodyguard had just been “doing his job.” Jovicic said that Jafari broke the headphones himself when he tried to punch the bodyguard.

Jafari said he followed Rocky and his entourage onto a side street and tried to talk to them again about the broken headphones. “While I’m talking to them, all of a sudden one of these guys comes from behind and hits me with a bottle,” smashing it on the right side of the head behind his ear, Jafari said. He did not know which man hit him with the bottle, he said.

Jafari said that once he was down on the ground, he was kicked and punched repeatedly, at least 20 times by all four men in the group. “I felt they were going to beat me to death,” he said.

Magnus Stromberg, Jafari’s lawyer, said his client was asking for about $16,000 in compensation for injuries and lost income. Jafari suffered cuts to his face, arms and hands that required 13 stitches and would leave scars, Stromberg said. Some wounds appeared to come from a broken bottle found at the scene, he added.

Leif Silbersky, a Swedish lawyer who has handled many high-profile cases, but is not involved in Rocky’s, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that the bottle was key to the case, especially if any of the defendants are convicted. “If someone has used a glass bottle, then it’s an aggravating circumstance, and it automatically carries a prison sentence” of at least a year, Silbersky said.

Jovicic denied Rocky or his friends used a bottle. The court was shown several videos of the attack, but none of them showed a bottle being used in it. Jafari could have accidentally rolled on a bottle at the scene, Jovicic said.

After testimony ends, most likely Friday, the presiding judge, Per Lennerbrant, and three other judges, will reach a verdict, though it was not clear how quickly that would happen.

The Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lofven, has said he cannot intervene, despite Trump’s urging — in a cordial phone call and some less-cordial Twitter posts — that Lofven step in.

Trump began taking an interest in the case after rap star Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, brought it to the White House’s attention. Trump, who has been sparring with prominent black figures in recent weeks, has posted a string of tweets in the last two weeks in which he referenced the #FreeRocky hashtag and said that Sweden had “let our African-American community down.”

According to a statement Lofven’s office released after his July 20 phone call with Trump, the prime minister told the president that “in Sweden everyone is equal before the law and that the government cannot and will not attempt to influence the legal proceedings.”

Trump was not the only observer who seemed to have made up his mind before the trial. Ivan Wailullah, 32, a middle school science teacher from Nynashamn, 40 minutes south of Stockholm, watched the day’s proceedings from a listening room next to the court. He said he was a superfan and an organizer of the “Free Rocky Movement,” which staged small demonstrations in Sweden calling for the rapper’s release.

“If he’s found guilty, I would be furious,” Wailullah said. “He’s doing it in self-defense and they provoked him.”

Queen Jonsson, 16, a student, said she had come to watch the trial with a friend because it was “a big deal.”

“This is going to be talked about for many years,” Jonsson said. “It will be talked about if he’s released, and if he’s guilty.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/arts/music/asap-rocky-trial-stockholm.html" id="1ead3991-377c-3602-a7fe-580ae4cc0496">The New York Times</a>.

STOCKHOLM — To some cheers and an equal amount of mockery, President Donald Trump has treated the ASAP Rocky assault case as something akin to an international hostage crisis.

ASAP Rocky Trial Begins in Sweden, With a Special Envoy From America

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Christina Anderson and Alex Marshall

Articles written by the author

ASAP Rocky Guilty of Assault in Sweden but Won't Face Prison Time

ASAP Rocky Is Freed Pending Assault Verdict in Sweden

ASAP Rocky Is Ordered Freed From Jail Pending Verdict in Assault Trial

ASAP Rocky Trial Begins in Sweden, With a Special Envoy From America