The Swedish government rebuffed pleas from President Donald Trump to free American rapper A$AP Rocky from a Swedish jail, according to PageSix.
Rocky, who is up on assault charges after a street brawl in Stockholm, has been in jail since his arrest on July 3. Swedish prosecutors said the rapper is “suspected of assault causing actual bodily harm.”
The rapper’s lawyer claims that Rocky feels he acted in self-defense during the June 30 incident.
On Thursday, the president tweeted that he is very disappointed that the Swedes have not released the rapper.
In a second tweet, the president advised the Swedes to “focus on real crime.”
“Sweden and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven have been very clear in the dialogue with both the White House and directly with the American president, that in Sweden everyone is equal before the law, and that the government cannot interfere in legal proceedings,” a spokesman for the Swedish government Reuters on Friday.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt added that it is “right of the government not to go into a mud wrestling match with Trump.”
One issue is that Sweden has a no-bail legal system, so the rapper and those accused in the same incident will stay in jail while their case is considered.
In an earlier tweet, the president reported having a “friendly and respectful” phone conversation with Prime Minister Lofven. Trump said the PM “assured me that American citizen A$AP Rocky will be treated fairly.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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