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Singer R. Kelly in Chicago (picture from 2019): according to the prosecutor, he should continue to be under special observation in prison
Photo: Antonio Perez/AP
The New York prosecutor continues to believe it is justified that singer R. Kelly is in prison under special surveillance for those at risk of suicide.
On Friday, Kelly's lawyers filed a lawsuit against the prison because they see the prison conditions as a form of restraint due to Kelly's notoriety.
Among other things, they complained, according to People magazine, that because he was classified as a suicide risk he was being held in a spartan solitary cell and had to wear clothes made of a particularly rough material.
Prosecutors released a statement on Sunday saying they continue to believe Kelly's suicidal conviction is justified.
Daily conversations with him by prison psychologists led to this assessment, it says.
Kelly is currently being held in a federal prison in the Brooklyn borough of New York but could be transferred pending another trial in early August.
The 55-year-old former pop superstar was sentenced to 30 years in prison in an abuse trial on Wednesday.
Last year, after a trial lasting several weeks, a jury found the musician guilty on all nine counts, including sexual exploitation of minors, kidnapping and bribery.
Kelly had always denied the allegations.
ani/dpa
