Malian singer detained in Italy in child custody dispute

Award-winning Malian singer Rokia Traore was set to perform at the Rome Colosseum on Sunday (Jun. 23) but was arrested before that and the event cancelled.

The singer and Belgian playwright Jan Goosens have gone to court in France, Mali and Belgium to gain full custody of their daughter.

With verdicts reportedly giving either one the custody.

A Belgian court ruled last year that Traoré failed to hand over "a child to the person entitled to custody."

Traore had been arrested in Paris in 2020 on a European arrest warrant before defying a ban on leaving France.

Since her legals troubles, Rokia Traoré who lives in Mali with her child, performed less frequently in Europe.