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The assault trial for New York City rapper ASAP Rocky began today — Tuesday, July 30 — in a Stockholm District Court in Sweden. Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, is pleading not guilty to his assault charges.
Rocky has been imprisoned in Sweden since Friday, July 5, for a June 30 altercation that saw him and his crew getting into a fight in the streets of Stockholm. Lawyers for the American rapper claim he and his crew were acting in self-defense.
Now, reports indicate that the “victim” of the assault — 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari — has a criminal history, as he has been previously been convicted for assault, petty theft, and possession of heroin.
According to Daily Mail, Jafari is originally from Afghanistan and came to Sweden as an undocumented immigrant from Iran in the year 2015.
Rocky has since maintained his innocence, posting a video to Instagram shortly after the incident, saying that Jafari and his friends “hit security in the face with headphones, followed us for 4 blocks, and they were slapping girls butts who passed [sic].”
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Rocky’s arrest and subsequent trial have become one of the biggest stories of the last month, as even President Trump has tweeted about the issue.
“Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly!” Trump tweeted on July 25.
If convicted, Rocky is facing two years in prison in Sweden.
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