Embattled singer, R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch at the federal detention facility in Brooklyn.
This was revealed by his legal team in an accompanying affidavit.
Recall that earlier this week, the singer was sentenced to 30 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges
Following his sentence, His lawyers disclosed that the 55-year-old will be suing the federal prison housing him for putting him on suicide watch.
They insisted that there is no reason for Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center to put R. Kelly on suicide watch.
According to them, doing so is causing “real and lasting harm” to the singer as the Court documents allege that both before and after the sentencing, the singer was mentally stable and showed no signs of behaviour that require him to be placed on suicide watch.
The document reads In part;
“Mr. Kelly impressed upon me repeatedly that he was not suicidal and the conditions of suicide watch at the MDC were extraordinarily stressful and harmful.
“He expressed on multiple occasions that he did not want to be put on suicide watch and that he was not suicidal and had no thoughts of harming himself or anyone else.”
Kelly’s lawyers revealed that to ensure he wouldn’t be sent to suicide watch, they told him to email them as soon as he returned to the cell after his sentencing.
However, they didn’t receive an email. They repeatedly tried contacting the prison but were not able to get an update on Kelly’s location until two days later, when it was confirmed by a prosecutor that he had been placed on suicide watch.
According to the prosecutor, MDC’s legal team said he had been moved “for various reasons, such as age, crime, publicity, and sentencing.”
One of the singer’s lawyers, Jennifer Bonjean who spoke with CNN said;
“The irony of putting someone on suicide watch when they’re not suicidal is it actually causes more harm.Mr Kelly was placed on suicide watch for purely punitive reasons in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights
“MDC has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not. MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag.”
Speaking further, Jennifer Bonjean stated that she had spoken with R. Kelly following the sentencing.
He told her that he was mentally fine, but concerned that authorities would put him on suicide watch as they had after the guilty verdict.
“We are in the process of filing an emergency rule to show cause with the courts.MDC Brooklyn’s confinement of Mr Kelly to suicide watch is illegal, and they will be held accountable for it.” She added.
