- R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch after recently being sentenced to 30 years in prison.
- Kelly is mentally fine, according to his lawyers.
- Kelly's lawyers added he is only being placed on suicide watch because he is high profile.
Singer R. Kelly has been placed on suicide watch after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking, his lawyer said Friday.
Kelly is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly's attorney said his Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishments are being violated according to NBC.
"MDC Brooklyn is being run like a gulag," Bonjean told NBC. "My partner and I spoke with Mr. Kelly following his sentencing, he expressed that he was mentally fine, was behaving appropriately, and was eager to pursue his appeal."
Kelly's attorney filed a lawsuit and moved for a temporary restraining order against MDC, according to CNN. Bonjean was told by prosecutors who spoke with prison officials that Kelly was placed on suicide watch because he is well known.
"It's punishment for being high-profile. And it's horrifying frankly," Bonjean told CNN. "To put someone under suicide watch under those conditions is cruel and unusual when they don't need it."
