Belgian prison to release renowned Malian artist Rokia Traore

The Malian artist Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome last year due to an international child custody battle and subsequently extradited to Belgium, was released from a Belgian prison on the evening of Wednesday, January 22, following a new hearing at the Brussels courthouse.

The acclaimed musician has been behind bars in Belgium since November after being sent back from Italy to serve a two-year prison sentence.

The 50-year-old singer and guitarist received her sentence in absentia from a Brussels court in 2023 for charges related to parental abduction, stemming from a protracted dispute with the Belgian father of her now nine-year-old daughter.

Traore is celebrated as one of Africa's most prominent vocalists and served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, from 2016 to 2018.

Last November, Italian authorities transferred the Malian singer to Belgium after her appeal was denied by Italy's highest court.

Her legal troubles began in 2020 when she was arrested in France under a Belgian warrant for not complying with a court order linked to her custody dispute with her estranged Belgian partner, Jan Goossens.