R. Kelly Removed From Suicide Watch Days After Suing Prison

R. Kelly was recently removed from suicide watch, just days after it was revealed that he is suing the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn for placing him on observation in the first place. According to the Associated Press, Kelly was taken off the watch after a follow-up “clinical assessment” determined that he is not a threat to himself. Prosecutors initially pushed for the watch because they believed it was necessary for the singer’s “own safety.”

However, Kelly has filed to sue the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn over the suicide watch, per PEOPLE. The “I Believe I Can Fly” singer — whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly — claims that he was placed on suicide watch for “purely punitive reasons” because he is a “high-profile inmate.” Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, issued a statement to PEOPLE, writing, “MDC has a policy of placing high profile individuals under the harsh conditions of suicide watch whether they are suicidal or not (this was done recently with Ghislaine Maxwell).”

“MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag,” she added. “My partner and I spoke with Mr. Kelly following his sentencing, he expressed that he was mentally fine and ONLY expressed concern that even though he was NOT suicidal, MDC would place him on suicide watch (as they did following the guilty verdict).” Bonjean concluded, “We have just sued MDC Brooklyn.”

In June, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and racketeering. The sentence was handed down on Wednesday, following federal prosecutors’ request for a minimum of 25 years. The singer had been facing the possibility of life behind bars.

The disgraced R&B singer declined to make a comment prior to his sentencing, but before handing the sentence down, Judge Ann M. Donnelly made a statement. She referred to Kelly’s behavior as violent and “carefully planned,” and warned that the public needs to be protected from him. She also chastised Kelly’s “indifference to human suffering,” and mourned that the crimes he’s been convicted of left behind “broken lives.” Deadline noted that, at 55 years old, three decades behind bars “virtually amounts to a life sentence.” Scroll down to read more and see what social media users have been sharing in response.

The recent trial was not Kelly’s first time in front of a criminal court jury. Back in 2008, the singer was acquitted of child pornography charges at a trial in Chicago. Notably, he is still facing child pornography and obstruction of justice charges in the city. A trial on those charges is scheduled to start in August.