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US rapper ASAP Rocky to be tried for assault in Sweden

A Swedish prosecutor said Thursday that US rapper ASAP Rocky, whose detention after a street brawl in Stockholm has created furore among fans, will be tried for assault.

US rapper ASAP Rocky to be tried for assault in Sweden
ASAP Rocky pictured in February. File photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/TT

“Today I have pressed charges against the three suspects for assault, because in my judgement what has happened amounts to a crime, despite the objections about self-defence and provocations,” prosecutor Daniel Suneson said in a statement.

The 30-year-old artist, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3rd along with three other people, following a street brawl in Stockholm on June 30th. One of them, the rapper's bodyguard, was later released. 

Part of the brawl was captured in an amateur video published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ. The rapper himself later published videos of his own to Instagram purporting to show the lead up to the fight.

Mayers has claimed he was acting in self-defence, saying he was responding to harassment and provocations by the plaintiff.

But Suneson said in his statement that “I have had more material to consider than what has been available on the internet. In addition to the videotaped material there is support for the plaintiff's account through witness interrogations.”

Since ASAP Rocky's arrest, fans, fellow artists and US Congress members have campaigned for the artist to be freed. President Donald Trump also spoke to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven last week about the case.

An online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 620,000 signatures, and posters emblazoned with “Free A$AP Rocky ASAP” have been put up around Stockholm.  

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CRIME

Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was handed a fine for disobeying police orders after blocking access to Sweden's parliament during a protest.

Stockholm court fines Greta Thunberg over parliament climate protest

Police removed Thunberg on March 12th and 14th after she refused to leave the main entrance, where she was protesting with a small group of activists for several days. MPs could still access the building via secondary entrances.

The court said it fined the activist 6,000 Swedish kronor ($551) and ordered her to pay 1,000 kronor in damages and interest.

Thunberg denied the charges of two counts of civil disobedience, according to an AFP journalist at the hearing.

Asked by the judge why she had not obeyed police orders, she replied: “Because there was a (climate) emergency and there still is. And in an emergency, we all have a duty to act.”

“The current laws protect the extractive industries instead of protecting people and the planet, which is what I believe should be the case,” she said as she left the courtroom.

Thunberg has been fined twice before in Sweden, in July and October 2023, for civil disobedience during similar protests.

In February, a London judge dropped charges against her for disturbing the peace during a demonstration against the oil industry in October in the British capital.

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