A happy outcome. After more than a week of detention, Frenchman Stéphane Jullien – advisor to French people living abroad based in Niger – was released by local authorities. He was arrested on September 8 by Nigerien security forces. “France welcomes the release of Stéphane Jullien,” announced Anne-Claire Legendre, spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Quai d’Orsay made public the arrest of its national on Tuesday September 12 and called for “his immediate release”. The ministry did not, however, specify the circumstances of his arrest.
A diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse this Thursday that Stéphane Jullien had been released Wednesday evening. As a reminder, an advisor to French people abroad represents their expatriate compatriots at embassies and consulates.
This affair took place in an extremely tense context between Paris and Niamey, since the military coup of July 26 in Niger. Paris still considers ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, held captive by the junta, as the legitimate head of state.
France has so far refused to respond to the putschists’ demands. The latter are demanding the departure of the ambassador to Niamey and have denounced the defense agreements with France, which deploys 1,500 soldiers in Niger. Before the coup, Niger was one of its last allies in the Sahel and a key country in the French counter-terrorism system.