ASAP Rocky’s ”inhumane” jail conditions in Sweden: Turkey and rhubarb pie

Uppdaterad 2019-09-10 | Publicerad 2019-07-09

Rapper ASAP Rocky was said to live in ”inhumane conditions” in his Swedish jail, surviving on ”dirty water” and ”inedible food”.

However, the past week’s menu at Kronoberg jail has included turkey, veal mince burgers and rhubarb pie with custard.

”We can deny that image of the jail portrayed in the TMZ story,” jail manager Fredrik Wallin said.

American rapper ASAP Rocky was arrested on 3 July under suspicion of assault following a street brawl in Stockholm and is held at the Kronoberg jail in the Swedish capital. Referring to sources ”with direct knowledge of Rocky's situation”, Hollywood news site TMZ claims that the prison is filthy and "disease-ridden" and that the 30-year-old star, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, ate only an apple a day for the first five days as the food at Kronoberg was ”inedible”.

Denies claims

Kronoberg's prison manager Fredrik Wallin declines to comment on specific cases but denies the claims made in the article.

"We can deny that image of the Kronoberg jail that is described in the TMZ story," Wallin said in a statement.
"Just to give one example, staff and inmates are drinking from the same municipal tap water."

Rhubarb pie on the menu

The jail's menu from the past week also includes sausage stroganoff with rice and breaded cod with mashed potato. On Wednesday, ASAP Rocky will be served pasta with hot pasta sauce and pork, and on Thursday, spinach soup will be followed by rhubarb pie and custard.

The rapper's Swedish lawyer, Henrik Olsson Lilja, has heard of the TMZ report but declined to comment on the image of Swedish jail conditions that has been portrayed in US media.

"Swedish jails should follow the jail regulations. Other than that, I don't want to comment on this," Olsson Lilja said.

Newly refurbished

According to the TMZ article, the prisoner in the cell beside ASAP Rocky's threw faeces around him without it getting cleaned up. The entertainment site also claims that the rapper is forced to sleep on a yoga mat with no blankets.
However, at the Kronoberg jail all inmates sleep in single rooms with a bed, a desk, a chair fixed to the wall, a bench to sit on and a book shelf on the floor. The cells also have a sink, with bathrooms located in the corridor.

Between 2011 and 2018, the 279-cell jail underwent a major refurbishment. Aftonbladet visited the then newly-refurbished prison in December 2017, a month before it would be put back into use, to document the new look of the cells.

PODD: Leif GW Persson om ASAP Rocky: En jävla massa overkill

I dagens Aftonbladet Daily sammanfattar vi händelserna kring ASAP Rocky, hiphopstjärnan som gripits och häktats, misstänkt för misshandel och pratar med kriminologerna Leif GW Persson och Jerzy Sarnecki.
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