“We have no recent news from our brother”, regrets Saturday October 8 on franceinfo Canèle Bernard, the sister of Olivier Dubois, journalist captured on April 8, 2021 by a jihadist group in Mali. It urges France and Mali, “regardless of their relationship”to come out of their silence and to act: “We ask them to react, Olivier’s life is at stake.”
franceinfo: It’s been a year and a half, day for day, this October 8, that your brother was kidnapped, do you have any news from him?
Canele Bernard: Olivier is captive every day and not only on the 8th of each month. It’s been 547 days today, it’s a captivity that has taken its mark over time, and we are extremely worried because we have no recent news from our brother. I know absolutely nothing. Imagine the state of Olivier’s mother, imagine our state, we are every day between hope and despair, between incomprehension and anger. We feel completely abandoned, abandoned. So imagine how he, Olivier, has been feeling for 547 days. The longer we wait to act, the more time passes, the more Olivier’s psychological and physical state deteriorates. So, we wonder, what are we waiting for to help this French citizen who is in an extremely urgent situation? I remind you that on April 8, 2022, there were two proofs of life published by his captors on social networks. For us, this is proof that they want to return Olivier.
Do you deplore a lack of communication from the authorities?
Today we have no information available. We always wonder what the French government is doing and what the Malian government is doing, because it is the responsibility of both countries, regardless of their relationship. For the moment, they are completely silent. We ask them to react, Olivier’s life is at stake. On one side or the other we know nothing and that is why our family, Olivier’s mother, my spouse and myself launch communication operations, such as the petition that we invite people to sign on change.org. The more of us there are to sign it, the more we will give the necessary echo to the current fate of Olivier, the last French hostage in the world.
What are you concretely asking of the government?
What we are concretely asking the government is to finally be received by the officials who know Olivier’s file. We only had two meetings with the officials, our referent and the crisis unit, which says it has no information. She is below everything. Below Ms. Colonna, below Emmanuel Macron, so she is dependent on the information given to her. We want to talk to people who know the case. We asked Mrs. Colonna for an appointment, we still haven’t had it. We want to talk to those who know. When will they respond to us? When will Olivier come home?