The Franco-Swiss ex-hostage Sophie Pétronin, released in October 2020 after four years of detention in northern Mali, returned to the country in March, entering it irregularly, according to information gathered by the editorial staff. International Radio France, Tuesday 2 November. The 76-year-old humanitarian worker insisted with his son to return to Bamako.
Despite pressure from the French authorities not to obtain a visa, Sophie Pétronin embarked on a long overland journey to join her adopted daughter, just six months after being part of an exchange involving release. of more than 200 jihadist fighters.
It is now the subject of a search notice, distributed by the general direction of the Malian gendarmerie on the evening of Friday, October 29. The international editorial staff of Radio France was able to authenticate this internal note, revealing the presence of Sophie Pétronin on Malian territory. She asks “all units” locate the French humanitarian worker, apprehend her and “lead her under good escort” in Bamako.
The international editorial staff of Radio France is able to confirm the presence of Sophie Pétronin on Malian soil. According to our information, some time after his release, the former hostage unsuccessfully took steps to obtain a residence visa from the Malian authorities. Faced with this systematic refusal, she ended up convincing her son Sébastien and activated a plan B to achieve her goal.
On the pretext of wanting to take a vacation in Casamance (Senegal), the Pétronins checked in on a Geneva-Dakar flight and, upon their arrival, embarked on a road trip that lasted more than three days. Jumping from one bus to another, clinging to the saddle of a motorcycle taxi, Sophie Pétronin, veiled at times, managed to cross the border and reach Bamako, accompanied by her son. The ex-hostage moved to the capital in March 2021. Her son immediately informed Imam Dicko, a very influential religious figure in Mali, of his presence in the city.
According to our sources, Sophie Pétronin could not bear her return from captivity. On several occasions, the humanitarian worker involved in Mali for 25 years, raised the possibility of ending her life during family reunions, in the presence of the children of her son Sébastien. The expression of this discomfort quickly deteriorated his relationship with his daughter-in-law, even pushing the couple to the edge of divorce. Sophie Pétronin apparently couldn’t stand the atmosphere of the small Swiss town of Porrentruy, where she was now based. The cold, the humidity and his meager retirement pension of 750 euros gave him the feeling of having passed from one detention to another.
4000 kilometers away, in Mali, he sorely missed his adopted daughter.
She had always vowed to join her. Sophie Pétronin and Zenabou, 19 years old today, were separated on December 24, 2016, during the kidnapping of humanitarian aid by a group of jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaida, without any possibility of reuniting, until March latest.
For more than seven months, Sophie Pétronin has therefore been living in Bamako, near Zenabou, with the consent of Imam Dicko. The work accomplished by the Franco-Swiss humanitarian for 25 years in the country, without any ethnic or religious distinction, has given it solid popularity. It is difficult to believe that its presence in the territory took seven long months to filter through the Malian authorities.
It is also difficult to explain why this wanted notice “to all units” of the national gendarmerie is broadcast so late when the Pétronins have indeed passed through a customs post at the Senegalese border. Behind the revelation of the presence of Sophie Pétronin in Mali is playing, perhaps, a new round of the diplomatic showdown between Paris and Bamako.