Trump sends hostage affairs envoy to monitor A$AP Rocky’s Sweden trial in ‘shameful abuse of office’
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Trump sends hostage affairs envoy to monitor A$AP Rocky’s Sweden trial in ‘shameful abuse of office’
Zamira Rahim, The Independent 2 hours 18 minutes ago
Donald Trump has been condemned for sending the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs to Sweden for A$AP Rocky ‘s trial.
The Harlem rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused of beating a 19-year-old man in Stockholm on 30 June.
Mr Mayers is accused of assault, alongside two others and the street-fight has become a point of contention in US-Swedish diplomacy.
On Tuesday the 30-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge as his trial opened. He claimed to have acted in self-defense.
Robert O’Brien, the special envoy, has been sent to Stockholm by Mr Trump to monitor court proceedings and to show support for the rapper, according to Swedish news agency TT.
It is unclear why Mr O’Brien, whose job is to advise the government on hostage issues, was selected for the trip.
Dan Baer, a former US ambassador to the Organisation for Security & Cooperation in Europe, called the move a “shameful abuse of a serious office.”
“Imagine how seriously O’Brien will be taken by other actors now that he has made a mockery of himself by allowing his office to be instrumentalized thus,” he said on Twitter .
“Trump’s clown like behaviour makes us weaker.”
The president had demanded that Sweden release the rapper in a series of tweets published earlier this month.
“Sweden has let our African American community down in the United States . I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers,” he said.
“Treat Americans fairly!”
The president also called on the Swedish government to “give A$AP Rocky his freedom”.
Mr Trump spoke to Stefan Lofven, the Swedish prime minister and offered to personally guarantee the rapper’s bail but was told Mr Lofven could not intervene in a legal case.
A senior Trump administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the special envoy’s presence at the trial was part of an effort to convey the president’s concern.
Mr O’Brien is also in Stockholm support the US citizens involved “and, to, hopefully, bring them home”, the official added.
During the trial prosecutors said 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari and a friend got into an argument with Mr Mayers and one of his bodyguards near a fast-food restaurant where the rapper’s entourage had eaten.
They allege in court documents that Mr Mayers and the two other men thought to be part of his entourage beat and kicked the teenager while he was on the ground.
Witnesses in the case are expected to testify on Thursday.
The trial continues.
Additional reporting by agencies
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The guy isn't a hostage. He is under arrest. Will this envoy head to Italy next in regards to the two Americans that are now "hostages" for killing one of their LEO?
One of those stranger than truth moments.
Racist!
What's the matter? The president shouldn't move to safeguard the rights of a black American? We should just let some other government lock him up and throw away the key?
I guarantee you if Trump had done nothing, the Left would be talking about how much he hates black people.
We all know that if Trump did nothing, ignored the matter, and let the dude stay in jail, libs, especially many on here, would yet again call the President a racist for not getting the poor African American out of a foreign prison, and by him not doing anything, proves how much of a racist Trump is.
The hate Trump seeds would remain the same, but with just another reason to do so.
I would not call him a racist for that. By all accounts, the guy is not being mistreated awaiting trial. If he is treated fairly with representation, Trump has no business sticking his nose in their business and that country has basically told him that.
When all is said and done, President Trump's gambit worked and the young man is headed home.