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Sweden Hits Back At Trump In Row Over Rapper A$AP Rocky Retention
Sweden has hit back at Donald Trump after the US president reacted angrily to a decision to press assault charges against the American rapper A$AP Rocky, insisting its independent judicial system must do its work.
“The rule of the law applies to everyone equally and is exercised by an independent judiciary,” tweeted former prime minister Carl Bildt. “That’s the way it is in the US, and that’s certainly the way it is in Sweden. Political interference in the process is distinctly off limits. Clear?”
Trump said on Thursday he was very disappointed in Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. He said “Sweden has let our African American community down in the United States. Give A$AP Rocky his freedom.”
The US president also said: “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.”
The outburst followed an announcement earlier on Thursday by the prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, that he had filed charges against the rapper and two members of his entourage. Rocky, 30, a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has been in custody since 3 July while authorities investigate a fight he was allegedly involved in on 30 June before appearing at the Smash hip-hop festival. A defense lawyer has said they acted in self-defense.
Other Swedish politicians also rebutted Trump’s comments, pointing out that the charges against the rapper were not arbitrary and wondering by what right Trump felt entitled to make such requests.
