One of Africa’s most famous musicians, Mali singer Rokia Traoré, has reportedly been jailed in Belgium amid an ongoing child custody dispute.
According to AFP, the 50-year-old man was extradited from Italy and was detained for serving an unserved two-year sentence.
The long-running saga dates back to 2020, when Traore was initially detained in France on a Belgian arrest warrant for failing to comply with a court order to hand his daughter over to the girl’s Belgian father.
A few months later she conditional releaseTraore ignored a French ban on leaving France pending extradition to Belgium and flew to Mali on a private flight.
In October last year, Traore was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison by a Belgian court for kidnapping his parents “by failing to hand over the child to a person with authority to take custody”.
In June, Traore was Fiumicino Airport When she flew to Rome for a concert, she had a pending child custody conviction for which a European arrest warrant was issued. Two months later, a court in the Italian capital approved her extradition.
The singer’s appeal was dismissed last week, paving the way for extradition. According to Reuters, Traore has been in prison since his arrest.
Her daughter, now nine, has lived in Marley since she was four.
Lawyers for the child’s father, Traore’s ex-partner Jan Goossens, reportedly said he has had no contact with his daughter since.
Her lawyer said that when she was first arrested in 2020, she was traveling from Mali to Brussels to appeal the custody ruling.
Malley’s government has previously come out in support of the singer, saying she has a diplomatic passport.
Traore’s lawyer Vincent Lurquin reportedly told AFP that the singer planned to appeal against the two-year prison sentence, which would trigger a new trial.
He also said both Traoré and Goossens wanted to “reach an agreement in the interests of the children” to avoid new jail terms.
Agence France-Presse reported that the Belgian National Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Traoré will remain in custody during the new trial.
Traore is one of Africa’s most famous singers. She has won several awards, including the 2004 BBC World Music Award and the 2009 World Music Album of the Year award at the French Music Victory Awards (the French equivalent of the Grammy Awards).
She is also known for her refugee advocacy work and in 2015 became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Goodwill Ambassador for West and Central Africa.
