A sad birthday. The only French hostage listed in the world, the journalist Olivier Dubois, collaborator of Release, Point and Young Africa, has been held back by a jihadist group in Mali for a year. He had himself announced his abduction in a video posted on social networks on May 5, 2021.
He explained there that he was kidnapped on April 8 in Gao, in northern Mali, by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel, linked to Al-Qaeda. In a press release issued Thursday, April 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that “every effort is being made, relentlessly, by the various competent services of the State to obtain his release”.
Olivier Dubois’ last sign of life is a video published on March 13. In this unauthenticated document, a man who appears to be Olivier Dubois appears in front of the camera and calls on the French government to “continue to do your best to work” upon his release. “When things go wrong here, I always think that spring will come”he adds, after sending a message to his relatives.
“It’s not a deepfake. I’m 10,000% sure it’s my brother in the picture, it’s the language he uses to express himself”, confides his sister Canèle Bernard to franceinfo. After a year of fighting to obtain the release of her brother, she continues to deplore the lack of communication from the Quai d’Orsay. “It’s a year of nothingness”she summarizes.
“When we call the Quai d’Orsay crisis unit, whether the questions are simple or complicated, nothing comes of it.”
Canèle Bernard, sister of Olivier Duboisat franceinfo
The family of Olivier Dubois was received twice at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without obtaining concrete information on the whereabouts of the journalist or on his state of health, says Canèle Bernard. “Each time, these meetings took place after interventions in the media. What bothers us is having to go through the press to get a reaction from the government, she lets go. Why is the silence the most total on his situation?
Canèle Bernard believes that the hostage takers are seeking contact with the French government. She denounces the inertia of Paris. “In one year, two proofs of life have been released. For us, it is clearly a call from the foot of the kidnappers to communicate”she continues.
On this subject, the Quai d’Orsay remains firm. “In terms of terrorist kidnapping, discretion is an essential condition for the effectiveness of State action and the safety of our compatriots held hostage”, ;writes the ministry in a press release, ensuring that it maintains “very close contact with all the members of Olivier Dubois’ family” and “transmit to them[tre] all the information he is able to share”.
Despite the weak known progress, those close to Olivier Dubois intend “make noise”, Friday, so that the situation of the journalist is not forgotten. His family made a video to raise awareness. Posted on YouTube from Thursday evening, it shows the faces of French personalities such as journalists Elise Lucet, Gilles Bouleau and Florence Aubenas (herself a hostage in Iraq in 2005), the rap group IAM or the actor Yvan Attal.
This video ends with a call to sign a petition for the release of Olivier Dubois, launched on January 6, which claims more than 82,000 signatures. “I understand that Olivier Dubois is not the primary concern of the French, but he is their compatriot”, resumes Canèle Bernard.
“It’s not just the profession of journalist that could have led him into this situation, he could have been a humanitarian, a business manager. He is a victim of jihadism, which has no borders.”
Canele Bernardat franceinfo
At the same time, a banner of support will be unveiled in Montpellier on Friday at 6 p.m. by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), after 19 other cities in recent months. A march is also organized on Friday in Metz.