US rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault at his trial in Sweden Tuesday over a street brawl, saying he acted in self-defence in a 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 the fight in Stockholm on June 30. One of them, the rapper’s bodyguard, was later released.
At the start of the trial on Tuesday morning prosecutor Daniel Suneson told the court that he believed that Mayers, and the two other accused, had assaulted the plaintiff, a 19-year old man, together.
Suneson said the accused had punched, kicked, and hit the plaintiff with a bottle.
He then went on to show the court parts from the some 550 pages of the preliminary investigation.
The evidence highlighted included surveillence footage and maps to establish a timeline of the events leading up to the brawl.