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Thursday, March 28, 2024

A$AP Rocky to be held in Sweden for third week over alleged fight

US rapper A$AP Rocky will spend another week in custody in Sweden as police continue to investigate an alleged fight in Stockholm.

US rapper A$AP Rocky will spend another week in custody in Sweden as police continue to investigate an alleged fight in Stockholm.

The 30-year-old music star – real name Rakim Mayers – was arrested on suspicion of assault earlier this month, which caused him to miss his headline performance at Wireless Festival in north London.

Mayers was in the Swedish capital for another gig at the time of the alleged incident on 30 June, which his lawyer has said was “a self-defence situation”.

Videos published on social media show a person being violently thrown on to the ground by a man, allegedly Mayers, but it was not clear who else was involved.

He and his bodyguards were detained on 3 July and two days later were ordered to be held for two weeks, but a court has now ruled that police can have another week to work on their investigation.

Once the probe is complete, prosecutors will decide whether to formally charge Mayers, whose lawyer Slobodan Jovicic said was enduring “a very bad experience”.

Mayers has posted two videos about the incident on his Instagram account, saying two men had been following him and his team through the city.

Fellow American stars including Kim Kardashian West, her husband Kanye West and Justin Bieber have issued their support for the Grammy-nominated artist in recent weeks.

The Wests have even lobbied Donald Trump as part of their efforts.

Writing on Twitter, Kardashian West thanked the US president and senior members of his administration, saying that their “commitment to justice reform is so appreciated”.

Fans of the platinum-selling rapper have also started a #JusticeForRocky movement online, and a petition calling for his release has garnered more than half-a-million signatures.

Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat in the House of Representatives, is also pushing for the Harlem-born star to be set free – saying his continued detention was “not a fair process”.

He added: “Everyone deserves to be treated equally and A$AP Rocky’s rights continue to be violated.”

But the campaigning has so far fallen on deaf ears, with top Swedish prosecutor Petra Lundh offering no indication that he would be released as a result of the calls from America.

She said: “The fact that a suspect or a plaintiff is known is no reason for the person to receive a special treatment.”

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