A$AP Rocky's Swedish Attorney Shot In Stockholm — Police Treating As Attempted Murder
He was shot in the head and chest.
getty The American prison system is flawed and broken. In fact, many people who take this cause seriously (yours truly being one of them) will tell you that the American prison complex is effectively just industrialized slavery. Of course, that doesn't mean that we're the only nation grappling with the right way to house, care for and ideally rehabilitate those sentenced for and accused of crimes.
When rapper A$AP Rocky was arrested in Sweden at the end of June, he was placed in a Swedish jail. It wasn't long before he and his team started issuing statements about the jail's conditions and what they had to say wasn't good. When the prison itself started to hear about it, they had to speak up and tell their side of the story...Why was A$AP Rocky arrested?
New details are emerging about the Swedish lawyer who represented A$AP Rocky. He was shot in the head and chest in Stockholm. Read on for all the new details.
1. A$AP's Take
A$AP Rocky was arrested in Sweden and placed in prison after being implicated by the police during a street fight on June 30th. Because laws in Sweden are a little bit different than they are here, Rocky was sentenced to prison for two weeks before his trial while the police try to get the bottom of what really happened on the night in question. But even two weeks seems like it might be two weeks too much, if what A$AP and his team are saying about the conditions of the prison is true. In an online petition his representative claimed that A$AP is being held in: “24/7 solitary confinement, with restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, access to palatable and life sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions.”
2. Sweden Speaks
When the allegations made by Rocky's camp first came out they received boatloads of attention, and it wasn't just his fans who were outraged to hear about the horrible conditions in which their fav rapper was being detained. Fredrik Wallin, who works as governor of the prison where Rocky is being detained was shocked and outraged to hear these smears about the "recently renovated" prison facility.
Wallin spoke about the “general conditions which apply to all prisoners,” without naming Rocky directly. “Normally, you live in a prison cell which consists of a desk, a bed with a mattress and a TV. During the last few years, we have completed a large reconstruction where all the prison cells as well as the rest of the remand prison have been completely renovated, which make the prison in good condition. I have no knowledge on any current diseases in the remand prison.”
3. Remand Prisons
Since the prison where Rocky is being held as a remand prison, let's break down what that actually means. Remand prisons in Sweden are a lot like what we think of jails. They are places for folks who have been arrested but who are still awaiting trial. The actual long term prisons are different, and in most of Europe, considered to be much higher quality than prisons in the United States.
Remand prisons in Sweden are different from American jails in a bunch of different ways, too, just so that we're clear. In Sweden, it isn't just people awaiting trial who you might find locked up there. They are also places where the mentally ill waiting for placement are often kept, along with drug addicts and even people who are seeking political asylum awaiting the outcome of their status.
4. Two Takes
Those in charge of the prison where Rocky is being kept and the team of people working for Rocky have two very different takes about the prison where he is being held and its conditions. While his reps have asserted that the conditions of the prison "are horrific", Governor Wallin says that he and his team at the prison make their best effort to keep the place spick and span.
“If someone spills their food, has any type of accident or hurts themselves which might cause blood, we immediately sanitize, using a professional cleaning company,” he said. “This is done for the sake of the prisoners as well as for our staff for them to have decent working conditions.” This sounds like the bare minimum you would expect at a jail facility, right? So where is the disconnect coming from?
5. Grub Hub
One of the biggest complaints that Rocky has made through his reps is that the food is either never served, or when it is, it's paltry and inedible. But just visiting the prison’s website you can see that they share their menu with the public. Prisoners have been served meals including minced meat, potato soup, sausage stew with rice, cod, mashed potatoes, chili and spicy pasta.
Rocky's reps have also said in their statement that the rapper is being kept under constant solitary confinement. In Sweden this means he would be placed "under restrictions" that prevent him from receiving visitors, getting recreational time, and limiting his access to things like books, movies, and television. However, the case's prosecutor has said that Rocky is NOT under restrictions.
6. Attorney shot in head and chest in Stockholm
Henrik Olsson Lilja, the defense attorney who represented A$AP Rocky in his Swedish assault case was shot Friday morning, September 6, while leaving his home in Stockholm. He was in the stairwell of the apartment building he lives in when he was shot multiple times in the head and chest. A former attorney with a long rap sheet was arrested in connection with the crime. He was rushed to a hospital where he is listed in serious but stable condition. Swedish police are treating the case as an attempted murder. A woman has been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.