A$AP Rocky, bodyguards found guilty of assault in Sweden

The Associated Press

5 years ago

A$AP Rocky, background right, leaves the district court in Stockholm by car, after the third da ... — A$AP Rocky, background right, leaves the district court in Stockholm by car, after the third day of his trial, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. He and two other American suspects were temporarily freed from a Swedish jail to head back to the U.S., as judges mull a verdict in the assault case against them. (Fredrik Persson/TT via AP)

A$AP Rocky, rear, and his defence lawyer Slobodan Jovicic in the district court in Stockholm, Friday Aug. 2, 2019, on the third day of A$AP Rocky’s trial. American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with two men he said were persistently following his entourage in Stockholm, but one of those men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. (Court Illustration by Anna Harvard/TT via AP)

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish court that found American rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault for his role in a June 30 street brawl in Stockholm says he and his two bodyguards “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him as he lay on the ground.”

During the trial, prosecutors played video footage that showed the rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, throwing a young man to the ground.

Per Lennerbrant, the presiding judge, told a news conference that “the evidence in the case has been complex.”

The victim, 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari, was struck in the back of the head with a bottle but “it could not be established by whom,” he said, adding that “this has affected the assessment of the seriousness of the crime.”

The three avoided prison sentences. They were given conditional sentences and also ordered to a pay a total of 12,500 kronor ($1,307) in compensation.

All three were released Aug. 2 pending the verdict. All returned to the United States and are not legally obliged to be present in Stockholm.

The issue led to a U.S.-Swedish diplomatic spat.