American rapper Rakim Mayers (33), better known as A $ AP Rocky, was involved in an incident of violence in Stockholm in 2019.
The artist was remanded in custody, charged with bodily harm. The incident of violence did not go unnoticed, and the rap star made international headlines from day one.
Several celebrities threw themselves in and demanded that Rocky be released – including then-US President Donald Trump.
Here they crash with SIAN
Trump with threat
Trump was also in contact with Sweden’s then prime minister, Stefan Löfven, where he offered himself to guarantee a possible bailbut release against a financial guarantee is not a scheme used in Sweden.
In an interview with Swedish Today’s News Sweden’s Justice Minister Morgan Johansson reveals that Trump also threatened Sweden with trade restrictions if the rapper was not released.
Johansson says that they saw themselves forced to contact the EU Commission and ask for support.
THREATENED BY TRUMP: Sweden’s Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson claims that former US President Donald Trump threatened Sweden with trade restrictions. Photo: NTB / François WALSCHAERTS / AFP
sea view
– If you try to do something like that against Sweden, what will you try to do against a slightly weaker country that does not have the EU behind it? says Johansson.
The Minister of Justice tells the newspaper that Trump’s threat demonstrates how important it is to “stand up for our legal principles and not take our democracy for granted”.
– I am in shock
Found guilty
Trump tried hard to help the rap star, despite the fact that he failed to get him released. Among other things, the president’s own hostage expert, Robert O’Brien, was sent to Stockholm to attend the trial.
CONVICTED: A $ AP Rocky was sentenced to unconditional imprisonment for bodily harm after a violent incident in Stockholm in 2019. Photo: Andrew H. Walker / NTB
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The US government also sent a letter in Sweden was warned about “negative consequences” if charges against the star are not dropped. The same letter stated that the United States also demanded that A $ AP Rocky be allowed to stay in a hotel.
On August 14, 2019, however, A $ AP became Rocky found guilty of violencedespite the fact that he denied criminal guilt and invoked self-defense.
He, and the other two accused in the case, were sentenced to probation and thus escaped serving his sentence in prison.
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