The trial of US rapper A$AP Rocky opened in Sweden on Tuesday, a month after the Grammy-nominated artist was jailed over a street fight in an incident that triggered an international diplomatic row.
A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, is accused along with two others of beating a 19-year-old man in Stockholm on June 30.
Mayers claims it was self-defence and that the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, had been harassing him and his entourage.
But prosecutors say Mayers and the other defendants beat and kicked Jafari and attacked him with a bottle.
Mayers’ extended detention in Sweden, which has no bail system, became an international incident when US President Donald Trump weighed in on the case, calling for the rapper’s release.
"Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM," Trump said in one of a series of tweets on the issue.. "We do so much for Sweden but it doesn't seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky."
As the trial got underway among those present was Robert O'Brien, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, sent by Trump to monitor proceedings.
Meanwhile, authorities in Sweden claim the US president has failed to understand their legal system.
“In any case he (Trump) should be informed that we, for example, don't have a bail system and you can't buy yourself out,” said the country’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom.
