Malian Singer Rokia Traore Detained in Italy Over Child Custody Dispute
Renowned Malian singer Rokia Traore has been detained in Italy due to an outstanding two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a child custody case, according to Brussels prosecutors on Sunday.
Traore, who was sentenced in absentia in October for parental abduction, fled France in 2020 before she was to be handed over to Belgian authorities. Reports from Italian media indicate that the celebrated musician was arrested at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Friday after arriving for a concert.
A spokesperson for the airport confirmed her arrest by border police, though there has been no official statement from Italian authorities. Prosecutors in Brussels stated that Traore’s arrest followed a Brussels Criminal Court decision on October 18, 2023, which sentenced her in absentia to two years in prison for failing to hand over her daughter to the child’s Belgian father, as mandated by a Belgian court ruling.
Traore was initially arrested in Paris in March 2020 on a European arrest warrant stemming from the custody dispute. The Belgian court had ordered her to return her daughter, now nine years old, to her father. However, she defied a ban on leaving France and returned to Mali later that year before extradition to Belgium could occur.
The father of Traore’s daughter has not had contact with her since she was four. His lawyer indicated a willingness to draft a new custody agreement, validated by both Malian and Belgian courts, to resolve the issue and ensure a future for the child with both parents.
Apart from her acclaimed music career, Traore is also a noted advocate for refugees. She was appointed a UN ambassador for refugees in 2015.
