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Malian musician Rokia Traoré freed from French prison pending transfer to Belgium


Malian musician Rokia Traoré has been released from a French prison, after being detained since 10 March for the alleged kidnap of her daughter in a child custody dispute. Her freedom is dependent on her delivery to Belgian authorities, once travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic are lifted.

Traoré was arrested under a European warrant issued by a judge in Brussels, where a court had ordered her to surrender her five-year-old daughter to the child’s father, Jan Goossens, who is Belgian. Traoré was held in Paris after getting off a plane there.

Until such time as she can be transferred to Belgium, Traoré will be under judicial supervision, a French criminal procedure imposed to prevent suspects from fleeing or recidivism, following a hearing in Paris on 25 March. Traoré appeared by video link. “Despite the fact that I live in Mali, I have always answered to the Belgian justice system,” she said, explaining that she had been travelling to Europe to attend a hearing related to her custody appeal.

Her lawyer, Kenneth Feliho, said: “Ms Traoré never wanted to evade Belgian justice, but it is impossible in her mind to hand over her daughter.” Feliho said they would go to the French court of cassation – France’s highest court of appeal – and the European court of human rights if necessary. “The fight with Belgian justice will continue,” he told Le Figaro.

Traoré’s case embodies a clash between European and African judicial systems. A Malian court had given Traoré custody of the child. The country’s government issued a statement in support of the musician, pointing out that she has a Malian diplomatic passport that should give her immunity. In a statement issued from prison, Traoré said that she was told this was not valid in Europe.

Traoré filed complaints about Goossens in Mali, France and Belgium, which she insists have not been investigated – though later in her prison statement she claims they were a major factor in the Malian court’s decision to grant her sole custody.

In an interview with a Belgian paper, Goossens said: “All horrible and false accusations were investigated and dismissed. All attempts to negotiate and achieve solutions were refused. I’m being cut out of my daughter’s life in a brutal way … my wish is that the rule of law can do its work … so that our daughter can see both her parents again.”

Traoré had been on hunger strike at the Fleury-Mérogis prison near Paris since her arrest. Musicians including Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour and Angélique Kidjo have called for her release. In a letter published on social media Damon Albarn, who performed with her in the group Africa Express, wrote: “We demand, for humanitarian reasons, the immediate release of Rokia Traoré, whose fragile health is deteriorating day by day.”

Lucy Durán, professor of music at Soas University of London, told the Guardian that Traoré’s arrest “smacks of the worst kind of racist misogyny”.





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