American hip-hop star A$AP Rocky could reportedly face up to six years in prison after he was arrested and detained in Sweden following a street fight.
More than 300,000 people, including a host of celebrities, have signed a petition calling for Rocky’s release after it was alleged he is being held in “inhumane conditions” in a Stockholm prison.
READ MORE: US singer Billy Eilish's "dark and eerie" album advert cleared for broadcast, but not for children
Here’s everything we know so far about the incident, the events leading up to Rocky being detained and what could happen next.
Who is A$AP Rocky?
Rakim Mayers, known by his stage name A$AP Rocky, is New York rapper, producer, model and actor.
When and why was he arrested?
Rocky, 30, was arrested on July 2 on suspicion of aggravated assault after a video capturing a street brawl in downtown Stockholm emerged on social media. In the clip, Rocky can be seen throwing a young man onto the ground.
After the fight, Rocky reportedly voluntarily went to the police to tell officers about the incident. Showbiz website TMZ reported he was arrested “immediately” and that the U.S Embassy was not notified.
How long is he being detained for?
A Swedish court ruled Rocky a flight risk and ordered him to spend two weeks in pre-trial detention while police investigate. On July 8, Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected Rocky’s appeal against his detention.
According to Rocky's team, the prosecutor on the case said that he is working to receive an additional two-week extension for a trial to begin in mid-August.
What is his lawyer saying?
Rocky’s lawyer Henrik Olsson Lilja said his client was attacked and his actions were in self-defence.
Why has a petition been launched?
Rocky’s hip-hop collective ASAP Mob launched a petition demanding for his release, alleging he has been denied the right to fair representation and is being held in “inhumane conditions”. Swedish authorities have denied the allegations.
The petition also alleges that Rocky and three other people were acting in self-defence when they were involved in a disturbance, saying they were followed through Stockholm and harassed.
Stand in support and request Rocky’s release from Swedish officials! Sign the petition and join the movement at https://t.co/Yapx5a29of #JusticeForRocky pic.twitter.com/HNFVmwUDNi
— A$AP MOB (@ASAPMOB) July 9, 2019
Among the celebrities to have put their names to the #JusticeforRocky petition are Post Malone, Lil Yachty, Miguel and ASAP Ferg. As of Wednesday morning UK time, more than 330,000 people had signed it.
What will happen next?
Rocky remains detained and his lawyer has said they will “continue to work our defence plans”. If convicted, he could reportedly face up to six years in prison.
It is unclear what will happen with Rocky’s remaining tour dates. He had been set to perform in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, Italy and Spain, as well as North America in early autumn.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article