Swedish PM warns Trump rapper ASAP Rocky won’t get special treatment – By Linda Givetash (NBC News) / July 20 2019
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s comments on Saturday came after the intervention of celebrities including Kanye West and Justin Bieber.
Sweden’s Prime Minister on Saturday warned that American rapper ASAP Rocky will not be getting special treatment despite President Donald Trump’s public intervention into the case.
Trump raised Rocky’s detention from the Oval Office and in a Tweet on Friday after First Lady Melania Trump and a number of celebrities asked that he intervene.
Just spoke to @KanyeWest about his friend A$AP Rocky’s incarceration. I will be calling the very talented Prime Minister of Sweden to see what we can do about helping A$AP Rocky. So many people would like to see this quickly resolved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2019
On Saturday the president said he had “a very good call” with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on the subject. He said he told Lofven that Rocky was not a flight risk and “offered to personally vouch for his bail.”
Trump added: “Our teams will be talking further, and we agreed to speak again in the next 48 hours!”
The Swedish leader said earlier that he was aware Trump “has a personal interest in the case.”
But Lofven said while he would welcome a conversation with Trump, it was not his place to sway the prosecutors or courts.
“I will explain that the Swedish judicial system is independent,” he said of a possible call with the president. “In Sweden, everyone is equal before the law, and this includes visitors from other countries.”
Prosecutors announced Friday that Rocky will remain in jail while police finish their investigation into a fight in downtown Stockholm.
The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, 30, was detained on “probable grounds for serious assault” July 3. Stockholm’s District Court granted prosecutor Daniel Suneson’s request that Rocky should continue to be held in pretrial detention until July 25, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Trump said in the Oval Office later Friday that “Many, many members of the African American community have called me, friends of mine, and said, ‘Can you help?’”
The president added: “So, I personally don’t know ASAP Rocky, but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African American community in this country and when I say African American I think I can really say from everybody in the country because we’re all one.”
“Actually, the one who knew about A$AP Rocky was our first lady. She was telling me about, ‘Can you help ASAP Rocky?’” he said.
The first lady added: “We’ll be working with the State Department and we hope to get him home soon.”
Singer Justin Bieber thanked Trump for intervening early Saturday, while seeming to criticize the president’s immigration policies.
I want my friend out.. I appreciate you trying to help him. But while your at it @realDonaldTrump can you also let those kids out of cages?
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) July 20, 2019
Rocky was arrested with three other people a day after headlining the Smash x Stadion hip-hop festival in the Swedish capital.
The two-time Grammy nominee and members of his entourage were alleged to have been involved in the brawl June 30 in which authorities said a person was beaten and cut with broken bottles. He has denied the assault accusation.
His detention was extended by six days on Friday after the prosecutor requested more time for the police to complete their investigation.
Rocky’s lawyer Slobodan Jovicic called the extension “unjust” and added the rapper was “tainted” by the experience.
Jovicic has maintained Rocky and his entourage were acting in self-defense when they were approached by two men on the street in the Swedish capital.
Rocky has had to cancel several shows in his European tour while he remains in custody.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/swedish-pm-warns-trump-rapper-asap-rocky-won-t-get-n1031961
