Flera månader efter att Meek Mill dömts till mellan två till fyra år bakom galler beslutade Pennsylvanias högsta domstol under tisdagen att en lägre domstol skulle släppa rapparen fri mot borgen. Nyheten kom via basketlaget Philadelphia 76ers ägare Michael Rubin. Kort efter gjorde Meek Mill själv ett uttalande:
“I’d like to thank God, my family, my friends, my attorneys, my team at Roc Nation including JAY-Z, Desiree Perez, my good friend Michael Rubin, my fans, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court and all my public advocates for their love, support and encouragement during this difficult time. While the past five months have been a nightmare, the prayers, visits, calls, letters and rallies have helped me stay positive. To the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, I’m grateful for your commitment to justice – not only for my case, but for others that have been wrongfully jailed due to police misconduct. Although I’m blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues. In the meantime, I plan to work closely with my legal team to overturn this unwarranted conviction and look forward to reuniting with my family and resuming my music career.”
Fans och vänner har firat frigivningen där bland annat namn som MMG-bossen Rick Ross, Kevin Hart, T.I och Jay-Z gjort olika former av uttalanden.
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) 24 april 2018
Det var i november 2017 som Philadelphia-rapparen dömdes till upp till fyra års fängelse för att ha brutit mot en villkorlig dom för ett 10 år gammalt fall av vapen- och droginnehav. Domen kritiserades kraftigt för att ha varit orättvis och hård och tände i sin tur gnistan för en ny diskussion kring rasdiskriminering inom det amerikanska rättssystemet. Meek Mills advokat Joe Tacopina säger i ett uttalande till Fox 29:
“We are thrilled that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has directed Judge Brinkley to immediately issue an order releasing Meek on bail. As we have said all along, Meek was unjustly convicted and should not have spent a single day in jail. We are also pleased that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has noted that Judge Brinkley may opt to remove herself from presiding over any further proceedings in Meek’s case in the interests of justice. Meek is excited to be reunited with his family, and we, along with Meek, intend to continue to shine the light on a justice system in need of reform to prevent any other citizen from being put through what Meek has endured.”
