Rapper A$AP Rocky’s detention in Stockholm on assault charges has prompted some fans to boycott Swedish brands such as IKEA (DAVID MCNEW)

Stockholm (AFP) – US rapper A$AP Rocky’s trial in Sweden entered its expected final day on Friday, with witnesses taking the stand in an assault case that has stirred diplomatic tensions and outraged fans.

The 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested on July 3 along with three other people following a street brawl in Stockholm on June 30, which saw him and his crew embroiled in a fight with a 19-year-old plaintiff.

When Mayers arrived in court for the third day of the trial, where he stands accused with two others, he was dressed in a dark suit instead of the green prison clothes he had worn in court on Tuesday and Thursday.

The court first discussed whether a new piece of evidence submitted by the defence should be accepted.

It concerned a previous assault conviction against the plaintiff, which the defence argued spoke to the plaintiff’s reliability and previous behaviour, but the prosecution said was irrelevant since the plaintiff and the accused had not met before the night in question.

Presiding judge Per Lennerbrant said the court would rule on the evidence after lunch and then went on to hear the testimony of two young women who had been present during the brawl. 

Proceedings are scheduled to conclude with closing arguments in the afternoon, although Lennerbrant has indicated there could be an extension into next week.

The rapper, who has pleaded not guilty, saying he was acting in self-defence, faces up to two years in prison if convicted.

– ‘Scared’ –

When giving his own account of the events leading up to the brawl on Thursday, the rapper stressed that he felt “scared” and that he and his entourage had repeatedly told the plaintiff to leave them alone.

Mayers conceded he threw the plaintiff to the ground and “kicked his arm”, but denied the prosecution’s claim that a bottle was used and insisted he only acted after the accuser and his friend began attacking his bodyguard.

The plaintiff has alleged that he was attacked by Mayers and his entourage when he followed them to ask about a pair of headphones that were broken in an earlier scuffle with the rapper’s bodyguard.

Much of the trial has centred around analysing videos and whether bottles had been used as weapons during the alleged assault.

In one video published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ, the rapper can be seen throwing a young man to the ground and apparently aiming several punches at him while he is down.

The court has also been shown videos posted on the artist’s Instagram account, purporting to show the lead up to the brawl in which Mayers appears to repeatedly ask the man and his friend to stop following him and his entourage. The prosecution has argued that the Instagram videos were heavily edited.

– Fans urged to boycott IKEA –

Once the hearings conclude, the court will announce a verdict date and rule on whether the accused should be detained in the meantime.

Considered by the court to be a “flight risk”, the rapper has been held in custody since his arrest.

Fans, fellow artists and US Congress members have been campaigning for his release.

An online petition called #JusticeForRocky has garnered more than 640,000 signatures. Social media campaigns have urged fans to boycott Swedish brands such as IKEA.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the rapper to be freed, drawing complaints of interference from Swedish politicians.

The US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Robert C. O’Brien, has been sent to attend the trial.

Swedish media also reported Thursday that the US embassy had sent a request to the Swedish Prosecutor General, to allow the rapper and the two others to stay in a hotel rather than in the remand prison where they are currently being held.

“We responded that’s not how it works in Sweden,” Karin Rosander, communications director at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told the newspaper Expressen.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.