Malian artist Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome last year amid an international child custody dispute and later extradited to Belgium, is expected to be released from a Belgian prison, as reported by a local news agency citing her legal team.
The renowned musician has been incarcerated in Belgium since November after being returned from Italy to serve a two-year prison sentence.
The 50-year-old singer and guitarist was sentenced in absentia by a Brussels court in 2023 for charges related to parental abduction, which arose from a lengthy conflict with the Belgian father of her now nine-year-old daughter.
Traore is recognized as one of Africa’s leading vocalists and served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 2016 to 2018.
In November of last year, Italian authorities transferred the Malian singer to Belgium following the denial of her appeal by Italy’s highest court.
Her legal issues began in 2020 when she was arrested in France under a Belgian warrant for failing to comply with a court order related to her custody battle with her estranged partner, Jan Goossens.
