AA / Tunis / M. Belhaj
The Italian Court of Cassation rejected, on Tuesday evening, the appeal of Malian singer Rokia Traoré against her extradition to Belgium, marking a new chapter in a complex international legal imbroglio concerning the custody of her child.
She will be handed over to the Belgian authorities “in the coming days”, announced her Italian lawyer Maddalena Claudia Del Re on Wednesday.
Rokia Traoré, aged 50, was arrested on June 20 at Fiumicino airport in Rome, under a European arrest warrant issued by Belgian justice.
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office then specified that “the arrest of Ms. Traoré in Italy follows a decision of the Brussels criminal court of October 18, 2023, having sentenced the person concerned, by default, to a sentence of two years’ imprisonment of the charge of non-representation of a child” to the person having custody of the child.
She has since been detained in Civitavecchia, awaiting the outcome of appeals brought by her defense. The Italian court followed the position of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled in favor of extradition.
**Legal context of an international parental conflict
The famous singer and goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR has been involved, since 2018, in a legal battle with her Belgian ex-partner, Jan Goossens, for custody of their daughter. Born in Belgium in 2015, the child currently lives in Mali, although Belgian justice has granted main residence to the father.
Accusing her ex-partner of touching their daughter, Rokia Traoré refused to hand over the child to her father despite several legal injunctions. In October 2019, an international arrest warrant was issued against him for “kidnapping and sequestration”.
Arrested in France in 2020, she was released under judicial supervision before leaving French territory for Mali, despite the ban on leaving French territory.
Since then, contradictory decisions between the Belgian, French and Malian courts have complicated the case. While the Belgian justice system issued new arrest warrants, Mali granted Rokia Traoré sole custody of the child in 2020.
“Rokia was sentenced to two years in prison during a trial which took place in Brussels without her being informed, in her absence and without her being able to be defended by a lawyer, in violation of the rights of defense and the principle of a fair trial,” said his lawyer.
Rokia Traoré will now have to face Belgian justice, with her lawyer declaring: “Today, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels.”
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