While we can thankfully say that A$AP Rocky is no longer sitting in a Sweden prison following his month-long assault case in Stockholm, one of the tactics used by U.S. officials to get him freed isn’t exactly sitting too well with many that’ve been following the whole ordeal since day one.

One of our last reports on the trial was that Donald Trump sent a presidential envoy to oversee the court proceedings, but that’s not the only order of business that was issued by the President.

Take a look at the letter that U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert C. O’Brien sent to the Sweden’s Prosecution Authority during his stay:

Stockholm, Sweden
July 31, 2019

Prosecution Authority of the Kingdom of Sweden:

On behalf of the US. Government, I present my compliments to the Prosecution Authority of the Kingdom of Sweden and with respect to the upcoming legal proceedings in the case of detained American citizens Rakim Mayers, David Rispers, and Bladimir Corniel, the US. Government requests the following:

-Immediate humanitarian release from the current Kronoberg Remand Prison.
-Supervised detention in a local Stockholm hotel pending final disposition of the case.

I take this opportunity to remind the Prosecution Authority of the commitment by President Trump to Prime Minister Stefan Lovfen that the three Americans will remain in Sweden if granted a humanitarian release.

As Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, I stressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice officials on July 29, 2019, the government of the United States of America wants to resolve this case as soon as possible to avoid potentially negative consequences to the U.S.~Swedish bilateral relationship.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to the Prosecution Authority of the Kingdom of Sweden the assurances of my highest consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ambassador Robert O’Brien
Special Presidential Envoy

The Prosecution Authority of Sweden,

Stockholm.

The entire document was originally obtained by CNN, which also includes the response from Swedish Prosecutor-General Petra Lundh (seen below). The real cause of concern is O’Brien’s use of the term “potentially negative consequences” that we’re sure most of the nation hasn’t even agreed to ourselves. Thankfully Lundh wasn’t too quick to fight underhanded fire with fire when responding, simply reaffirming what Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven had already stated when he said they have no say in any rulings placed by the Swedish Constitution. In short, chill with the threats bruh!

Ambassador Robert O’Brien
Special Presidential Envoy

Dear Mr. Ambassador

I have received Your letter and carefully taken part of Your concerns and requests regarding the American citizens and the case You are referring to.

According to the Swedish Constitution, a Swedish prosecutor is independent in his or her tasks to investigate crimes, to decide whether or not to instigate legal proceedings and to appear in court.

This means that no other prosecutor, not even I, may interfere with a specific case or try to affect the prosecutor responsible for the case in how he or she should decide or otherwise act with regard to the case.

Furthermore, when a person is charged and. the case is brought before a court, only the court can decide, during or after the trial, whether or not to release the person or decide on supervised detention.

I fully respect Your commitment in representing Your citizens but as I have explained above, I am unable to and therefore not take any action to accommodate Your requests.

Yours sincerely,

Petra Lundh
Prosecutor-General of Sweden

In all seriousness though, it is telling what American officials are willing to sever ties over when it comes to protecting the American citizen, even if it’s just to assure a vote come election time. The details in A$AP Rocky’s case are complicated and feature two different sides: one that sees a famous figure feeling threatened by a potentially inebriated individual on the street and the other that paints the story of a victim brutally attacked in a glass bottle beat-down. Neither is an appealing situation to fathom, but we’ll have to wait until a final judgment is issued later this month to see which side the law falls on.

The Source will continue to keep you all updated in the A$AP Rocky Sweden case. We’re praying for justice right along with the rest of the Hip-Hop community.

The post We Don’t Take Kindly to Threatz: Did A$AP Rocky’s Arrest Make the U.S. Threaten Sweden With ‘Negative Consequences’? appeared first on The Source.

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