Rocky on trial, rapper pleads not guilty in Sweden | News 4 now

The American rapper A $ AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to the badault of his trial in Sweden, which opened on Tuesday, a month after a street fight that led him to jail and has become a subject of US-Swedish diplomacy.

Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused along with two others of beating a 19-year-old man in Stockholm on June 30th. Prosecutors watched in court footage of a young man throwing a man to the ground.

Wearing jogging pants and a green t-shirt in court, Mayers, 30, pleaded not guilty to a charge of badault with a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. He says that he acted in self-defense.

The prolonged detention of the Grammy-nominated artist prompted US President Donald Trump to intervene personally on his behalf earlier this month. Mayers nevertheless remained behind bars, provoking Trump's anger.

Swedish news agency TT said Trump had sent the US president's special envoy for the hostages to Stockholm to follow the talks and support Mayers.

The special envoy, Ambbadador Robert O. Brien, was seen at the Stockholm court in the morning. A biographical statement on the State Department's website says that Mr. O. Brien is leading the US government's diplomatic efforts on hostage issues abroad.

"He works closely with families of American hostages and advises senior US government officials on hostage issues," the website said.

It was not known at once why Trump had sent a diplomat to defend the hostages. The rapper RZA (RIHZ-uh) of the Wu-Tang clan told the Associated Press Friday that he was worried about A $ AP Rocky and "disappointed that a judge can not discern that this is not a man you hold hostage ".

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