A$AP Rocky in Sweden: Donald Trump talks to PM Stefan Löfven
“Just had a very good call with @SwedishPM Stefan Löfven who assured me that American citizen A$AP Rocky will be treated fairly. Likewise, I assured him that A$AP was not a flight risk and offered to personally vouch for his bail, or an alternative,” Trump tweeted Saturday.
While Trump said he told the Swedish prime minister he would personally vouch for bail for A$AP Rocky, in fact Sweden has no bail system.
Separately, Linnea Wegerstad, a lecturer in criminal law at Lund University in Sweden, told the New York Times, “Sweden does not have a system of bail and alternative ways of stopping peace leaving the country, like taking their passport, are rarely used. She added ,”If you live in a country where bail is possible, I understand you’d be surprised.”
Trump said the two teams agreed to speak again in the next 48 hours, but Lofven’s spokesman Toni Eriksson said Saturday, “It is possible that there will be follow up calls but right now there is not one scheduled or planned.”
Trump said the two teams agreed to speak again in the next 48 hours, but Lofven’s spokesman Toni Eriksson said Saturday, “It is possible that there will be follow up calls but right now there is not one scheduled or planned.”
Eriksson said the prime minister told Trump in the about 20-minute call Saturday that his government “neither can nor will” try to influence the judicial process with respect to A$AP Rocky’s case.
“The Prime Minister made sure to point out that the Swedish judicial system, prosecutors and courts, are completely independent,” Eriksson, who described the call as “friendly and respectful,” said. “He also pointed out that everyone is equal before the law and that the government neither can nor will try to influence the judicial process.
Prosecutor Daniel Suneson said in a separate statement that the court decided the 30-year-old rapper should remain in prison because he was deemed a “flight risk.”
CNN has reached out to A$AP Rocky’s lawyer and his media representatives for comment.
The rapper has been detained since July 3 following a confrontation in Stockholm where he faces accusations of serious assault, according to CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen. Prosecutors are investigating a brawl that broke out on June 30, which A$AP Rocky is suspected of being involved in.
The President added, “Many members of the African American community have called me — friends of mine — and said, ‘Could you help?'”
CNN’s Per Nyberg in Stockholm and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this story.
