His fans and supporters in the courtroom erupted in cheers after the detention decision. “There is a God,” said Rocky’s mother, Renee Black.
Rocky’s arrest and jailing a month ago precipitated an outpouring of support and anger, with celebrities, fans, congressmen and eventually President Donald Trump demanding his release. Trump went so far as to send his special envoy for hostage affairs to the trial. But Swedish authorities ordered Rocky to remain in jail as a flight risk before and during his trial, which ended Friday.
The judge did not require Rocky or his two co-defendants, Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers, to remain in Sweden.
During closing arguments Friday, a prosecutor argued that Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, should be found guilty of assault and sentenced to six months in jail, saying the rapper had no justification for attacking a man who had been following him on a Stockholm street in June.
“I don’t think anything other than jail is possible,” said the prosecutor, Daniel Suneson.
On Thursday, Rocky told the court that he acted in self-defense when he threw, punched and kicked Mustafa Jafari, 19. He, Corniel and Rispers said they used reasonable force against Jafari, who had been following them and refusing their entreaties to leave them alone.
Rocky could have called the police, Suneson said, noting that he was also accompanied by a bodyguard at the time. “They have used more violence than what was required to defend themselves,” Suneson said. “It was excessive.”
Slobodan Jovicic, Rocky’s lawyer, also took a firm line in his summation. “My client should be found not guilty and freed today,” he said.
Jafari had tried to hit Rocky’s bodyguard and had thrown a pair of headphones at him before Rocky struck him, Jovicic said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.