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  1. What an extraordinary and very depressing story., Junior.

    This is what happens to a high-profile , international star with a lot of supporters. i dread to think of the fate of a more ordinary parent in a similar situation.

  2. Sentenced to two years in prison over a child custody dispute. It doesn’t sound as though the Belgian legal system has the child’s interests at heart.

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/21/malian-singer-rokia-traore-to-be-extradited-from-italy-to-belgium

    Then again, Rokia doesn’t come out of it all so well either. Taking her daughter off to Mali and denying the father and all his family any contact for several years was bound to cause upset.

    • The father of Eddi Reader’s boys was French (Algerian, IIRC), and he took them abroad. After Fairground Attraction split, there was a gap of several years before her solo albums during which she had to move to France and fight for custody in the French courts. The Man takes a dim view of musicians. She did win, but it took years. A nightmare.

  3. That is often the problem with divorce especially where children are involved. The parties tend to lose all sense of reason and will use the children as bargaining chips It seems in this instance that the Belgium court have not covered themselves in glory but as us often the case I doubt we have heard the full story and somehow I suspect both sides will have some valid points but that bitter recriminations will also exist from both parties.
    The only loser will be the child.

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