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A$AP Rocky’s Manager Calls Swedish Prison Where Rapper Is Being Held ‘Inhumane’ And 'Horrific'
A$AP Rocky is being held while prosecutors weigh whether to pursue charges after a street brawl. His lawyer says he was acting in self-defense.
Following rapper A$AP Rocky’s detainment in a Swedish prison over assault claims, his manager has launched a petition demanding his release and claiming that the conditions in the prison are “horrific” and “inhumane.”
The 30-year-old American artist and three others, were arrested for suspected gross assault on July 3 after a street fight in Stockholm on June 30, CBS News reports. He remains in custody, with a judge ruling on Friday that he may be held until July 19 while prosecutors investigate the brawl that preceded his arrest and decide if they want to press charges, according to Reuters.
In the meantime, A$AP Rocky’s manager John Ehmann has publicly criticized his client’s detainment and the state of the facility in which he’s being held in an online petition calling for the rapper’s release.
“The conditions of the facility are horrific and include 24/7 solitary confinement, restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, lack of access to life sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions,” Ehmann wrote in the caption of an Instagram post announcing the creation of the petition.
He went on to refer to the conditions as “inhumane” and a “clear violation of human rights.”
TMZ, citing unnamed sources, similarly reported that the rapper was being made to sleep on a yoga mat with no blanket in a “disease-ridden” facility where fecal matter was left on the floor. However, prison officials have since denied the outlet’s claims, with Fredrik Wallin, governor of the prison, claiming that the facility has been recently renovated and that staff maintain sanitary standards of living.
“I have no knowledge on any current diseases in the remand prison,” he told BBC’s Newsbeat.
The petition comes one day after the rapper’s appeal with the Swedish Supreme Court was denied, leading to a prolonged detainment — and canceled performances throughout Europe, according to the Independent. The rapper’s lawyer said that he may ultimately be held until his trial begins in August.
Swedish authorities have said that A$AP Rocky and three bodyguards were detained so that they could not leave the country and, thus, dodge prosecution, according to Page Six.
A$AP Rocky’s team has maintained his innocence, with his lawyer repeatedly stating that the rapper and his entourage acted in self-defense against men who “followed, harassed, and physically assaulted them in Stockholm,” the petition reads.
“Video footage shows the assailants following Rocky and his colleagues, even cutting off where they are trying to walk sometimes, while Rocky pleads to them that he does not want any issues,” the statement continues.
The footage in question — uploaded by A$AP Rocky himself, days before he was arrested — show two men who he said continued to follow and antagonize him and his companions despite being asked to stop.
“We don’t want to fight you all, we’re not trying to go to jail,” the rapper can be heard telling them in one clip.
Video obtained by TMZ show the rapper and his crew throwing one of the men to the ground and punching him. However, his lawyer has said that they were acting in self-defense “to avoid any further physical harm.”
