A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault charges Tuesday as his trial finally began almost a month after he was first thrown in jail in Sweden.
The 30-year-old rapper — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — appeared in court in a green T-shirt as his mother, Renee Black, arrived looking “like she was about to burst into tears,” Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported.
Prosecutors produced more than 500 pages of court documents in which they claim the rapper and two associates “deliberately, together and in agreement” beat up 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari in Stockholm on June 30.
The “Praise the Lord” rapper has been in custody since July 3, attracting the attention of President Trump, who unsuccessfully tried to intervene, as well as stars like Kim Kardashian and husband Kanye West and Justin Bieber.
He faces up to two years in prison but has always maintained he was provoked and acted in self-defense.
Prosecutors allege that the Grammy-nominated artist and his entourage beat and kicked Jafari while he was on the ground and that he was hit with a bottle.
However, the rapper’s lawyer, Martin Persson, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT on Monday that he has evidence that “no bottle” was used, and that the violence was “within the limits of the law.”
The rapper is expected to be cross-examined sometime Tuesday. Stockholm District Court also has Thursday and Friday set aside for the trial.
It is being held in a secure courtroom “because of strong interest from the media and the public,” the Stockholm court said.
With Post wires