Donald Trump has expressed its “disappointment” on Thursday to Sweden, where he will be tried for violence the rapper new yorkers A$AP Rocky, accusing the scandinavian country of “letting down” Black americans and calling for the release of the artist in Harlem.
” READ ALSO – Despite the international mobilization, A$AP Rocky remained in detention until 25 July
In a strong style unorthodox, the american president wrote two tweets stamped the hashtag #FreeRocky, used on the internet by the hip hop community and fans of the rapper. “Give her freedom to A$AP Rocky. We do so much for Sweden but it does not seem that this is mutual”, he denounced.
“Very disappointed with the Swedish Prime minister Stefan Löfven, who has not been able to act. Sweden has dropped our black community american. I’ve looked at the videos of A$AP Rocky, he was followed and harassed by troublemakers”, he also wrote in a tweet referring to the videos of the assault that occurred on 30 June in Stockholm. The president returns to the argument of the rapper in new york who pleads self-defence.
A$AP Rocky, a 30-year-old, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was taken into custody on July 3, at the end of a concert, in the company of three other people, after a fight, on the 30th of June, in the streets of the Swedish capital. On an amateur video first released by TMZ, the artist, on a visit to the Swedish capital for a concert in the framework of his european tour, puts on the ground a young man and then struck him blows. In other videos posted on the account Instagram of the rapper, A$AP Rocky asked several times to two young men to stop the follow.
The u.s. president has turned a corner, demanding tartly the release of the artist, after saying last weekend that he was ready to take “personally” the guarantor of the rapper and that he had informed the Swedish Prime minister. “The First minister was keen to stress that the justice Swedish, the public prosecutor and the courts are totally independent,” had said a spokesperson for Stefan Löfven.
“Risk of absconding”
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the case decided Thursday that the rapper was in Harlem, and two members of his entourage would be tried next week for assault by a Swedish court. “It was to be expected but it is extremely disappointed,” said his lawyer, Slobodan Jovicic, during a press conference. “He said he was innocent,” he stressed. Three days of hearing are scheduled in Stockholm city court, on July 30th, August 1st and 2nd.
On 5 July, a court ordered his incarceration as well as that of two of his relatives, on the grounds that there was “a flight risk” abroad. Since his arrest, friends and fans of the artist demanded his release and denounced a “fury” of the justice Swedish.
A$AP Rocky, who faces up to two years in prison accompanied by a fine, receives “a lot of mail” to the prison where he is being held, according to its board. His defense argued that he was merely reacting in self-defence to the provocations of a small group of people who harassed and followed him and his entourage.
Character “racial”
The prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, specifies in its order for reference, to have “had access to pieces of hardware much more numerous than those that are available on the internet. In addition to the videos, the witness testimony supports the testimony of the complainant”, he says.
In its order for reference, of which AFP has obtained a copy, the magistrate believes possess evidence that moves have been made to the victim with a glass bottle. Photos of the victim taken by investigators on June 30 and released Thursday by the Swedish press reveal deep wounds on several parts of the body, obviously caused by a sharp object.
One of the two complainants – it is more that a in the criminal proceedings – has also struck a member of the entourage of the rapper and a parallel investigation has been opened against him but the prosecutor has abandoned the prosecution, saying he had not made that respond to the aggression of which he was a victim.
A former u.s. ambassador to Stockholm, Mark Brzezinski, noted that he had contacted the Swedish ministry of foreign Affairs and the royal house, denouncing the “injustice and racial nature”. The government of the scandinavian kingdom opposed him that the justice system was completely independent of the executive.
The former Swedish Prime minister Carl Bildt abounds in sound sense, in a message posted on Twitter, in response to the allegations of the american president: “The rule of law applies equally to all and is exercised by an independent judiciary. This is what is happening in the United States, and it is certainly the case in Sweden. Political interference in the process is clearly prohibited! Is this clear?”
Based in Washington, d.c., the World Justice Project ranks Sweden in fourth place on 126 countries for the title of respect of the rule of law, fundamental rights, the proper functioning of the government and of justice, far ahead of the United States, in 20th place.
