Jailed in Italy, Malian singer Rokia Traore appeals to EU court

Jailed in Italy, Malian singer Rokia Traore appeals to EU court

By Romolo Tosiani

Renowned Malian singer Rokia Traore, arrested in Italy more than three weeks ago over an international child custody dispute, has appealed to European Union judges to resist an extradition request from Belgium, her lawyer told Reuters on Friday.

Traore, 50, is one of Africa's best-known vocalists and a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR.

She was arrested on June 20 at Rome's Fiumicino airport under a European arrest warrant. She had been sentenced to two years in prison in Belgium last October in connection to a child custody battle.

Since her arrest at Fiumicino, she has been in jail in Civitavecchia, near the Italian capital.

The singer had flown to Italy to hold a concert outside Rome's Colosseum.

"Ms Traore was sentenced in Belgium in her absence and without the certainty that she had knowledge of the trial. Even worse, the trial took place without a defence lawyer," her Italian lawyer Maddalena Del Re said.

This constitutes possible ground for opposition to her extradition, Del Re said, adding that she had asked the Luxembourg-based EU court to rule on the matter as it has jurisdiction over EU-wide arrest warrants.

Meanwhile, a prosecutor at Rome's appeal court has agreed that Traore may leave prison in favour of house arrest if she can find a home in Rome, the lawyer said.

The singer was first arrested in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant after failing to follow a court order to hand over her daughter to her Belgian father, the artist's estranged former partner.

Months after she was conditionally released, she flew to Mali on a private flight, defying orders not to leave France until her extradition case was processed. Her daughter, 9, lives in Mali.

Traore hopes to be reunited with her "as soon as possible," Del Re said.