Malian singer Rokia Traore is set to be released from a Belgian prison on Wednesday, according to her lawyers.
The 50-year-old vocalist, known throughout Africa, was arrested in Rome last year following an international child custody dispute and subsequently transferred to Belgium.
Traore, who served as a goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR from 2016 to 2018, was handed over to Belgian authorities by Italy in November after her appeal was rejected by Italy’s highest court.
In October 2023, she was sentenced to two years in prison in Belgium in connection with the custody battle over her daughter.
The singer’s legal troubles began in 2020 when she was arrested in France on a Belgian warrant for failing to comply with a court order related to her custody dispute with her ex-partner, Jan Goossens.
Despite being conditionally released, Traore defied orders not to leave France and flew to Mali on a private flight, where her daughter currently resides.
