Malian singer Rokia Traore to be released from Belgian prison

Malian singer Rokia Traore is set to be released from a Belgian prison on Wednesday, according to local news agency Belga, which cited her lawyers. Traore was arrested in Rome last year amid a global child custody dispute and subsequently transferred to Belgium.

Traore, 50, is a renowned figure in African music and served as a goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR from 2016 to 2018.

The singer was handed over to Belgian authorities in November 2023 after Italy’s highest court rejected her appeal. In October 2023, Traore was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison in Belgium in connection with a custody dispute over her daughter.

Traore was first arrested in France in 2020 under a Belgian warrant after violating a court order related to her ongoing legal battle with her former Belgian partner, Jan Goossens. Despite being conditionally released, she defied orders not to leave France, traveling to Mali on a private flight. Her daughter currently resides in Mali.

Scroll to Top