Singer Rokia Traoré has joined Mali despite a ban on leaving France

Franco-Malian singer Rokia Traoré has moved to Mali in violation of a ban issued by French courts to hand her over to Belgium in the context of the custody of her daughter, her lawyer said on Sunday.

“She is a hard-pressed mother who is afraid that her child will be torn from her, that is why she left for Mali, where she lives”, Kenneth Feliho, his lawyer, told AFP. “Back in Mali. The quest for justice continues ”, already indicated the singer in a message posted Tuesday on her Facebook account and spotted Sunday by the Parisian. In a postdate of Friday, she assured not to be “A terrorist”.

Locked up in France

The Paris Court of Appeal approved the surrender of Ms. Traoré to Belgium in late March, under a European arrest warrant in connection with the dispute between her father and her daughter. Pending surrender, she was first imprisoned before being released under judicial supervision, including a ban on leaving France.

The arrest warrant which targets her for “Kidnapping, forcible confinement and hostage taking” was issued by an investigating judge in Brussels and stems from the failure to comply with a judgment rendered at the end of June 2019 demanding the surrender of her 5-year-old daughter to her Belgian father, from whom Rokia Traoré is separated.

The singer, who says in her message that she left France on a private flight, challenges the decision of Belgian justice to entrust sole custody of the child to her father. According to his lawyer, a Malian justice decision granted the singer custody of her daughter.

The arrest warrant issued by Belgium leads to the registration of Rokia Traoré in the wanted persons file but she left the country ” regularly “ from Le Bourget airport (north of Paris), said a police source.

According to a judicial source, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Paris Court of Appeal is awaiting evidence that can attest that Ms. Traoré has not respected her judicial review. If this is proven, he will request his dismissal from the investigating chamber, which may order an arrest warrant against Ms. Traoré.

Rokia Traoré, singer and guitarist, is also known for her commitment to refugees and for having been appointed in 2016 as a goodwill ambassador by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

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