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

Traore, 50, is one of Africa’s best-known singers and a special ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR.

She was arrested on 20 June at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on the basis of a European arrest warrant. Last October, she was sentenced to two years in prison in Belgium in connection with a custody dispute.

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

The singer had flown to Italy to give a concert in front of the Colosseum in Rome.

“Ms Traore was convicted in absentia in Belgium, without any certainty that she was aware of the trial. Worse still, the trial took place without a defence lawyer,” said her Italian lawyer Maddalena Del Re.

This represents a possible ground for appealing her extradition, Del Re said, adding that she had asked the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule on the matter as it has jurisdiction over EU-wide arrest warrants.

Meanwhile, a prosecutor at the appeals court in Rome has agreed that Traoré could leave prison and be placed under house arrest if she finds an apartment in Rome, the lawyer said.

The singer was first arrested in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant after she failed to comply with a court order to hand over her daughter to her Belgian father, the artist’s estranged former partner.

Months after her conditional release, she flew to Mali on a private plane, defying orders not to leave France until her extradition request was processed. Her nine-year-old daughter lives in Mali.

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