Finally free. Hostage for seven hundred and eleven days in the Sahel, journalist Olivier Dubois was released on Monday March 20. Working freelance – for the article – for the daily Liberation and for the weeklies Le Point and Jeune Afrique, the independent journalist was kidnapped in Gao, in northern Mali, on April 8, 2021, where he had gone. to interview a jihadist executive.
In a video posted on social networks on May 5, 2021, the Frenchman, who has lived and worked in Mali since 2015, said he was in the hands of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a jihadist alliance in the Sahel. , linked to Al-Qaeda. Olivier Dubois was the only listed French hostage not held by a state in the world since the release, in October 2020, of Sophie Pétronin, also kidnapped in Mali.
Almost a year after his abduction, a second video of Olivier Dubois was posted on March 13, 2022 on social networks, without specifying the date on which the images were shot. In the video, the hostage, who appeared to be in good health, addressed his family and the French government asking to “continue to do everything possible” for his release.
The journalist, father of two, also mentioned the messages from his relatives, described as “breaths of fresh air”, which he received by Radio France internationale (RFI). But the Malian junta suspended the broadcasting of RFI and the France 24 television channel on March 17, 2022 in a context of tensions with France.
Emmanuel Macron expressed his “huge relief” on Monday, promising that the journalist would “soon be back in France”. “I just spoke with Olivier Dubois: he is in good health. Immense relief for the Nation, for his relatives and his fellow journalists, “he tweeted, expressing his” great gratitude to Niger for this release “.
Since his capture, several actions had been carried out by his relatives and supporters of press freedom to raise awareness of his condition as a hostage, in particular through several demonstrations, forums or even a petition.
“I feel tired but I’m fine,” he said as he stepped off the plane, smiling and visibly moved. “It’s huge for me to be here, to be free, I wanted to pay tribute to Niger for its know-how in this delicate mission and to pay tribute to France and to all those who allowed me to be here today,” he added in front of several reporters.
US aid worker Jeffery Woodke released
The news of his release is a “huge relief” after this almost two-year captivity, “the longest for a French journalist held hostage since the war in Lebanon”, welcomed Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “We had had reassuring news on several occasions in recent months, and again very recently: he seemed in good shape, but the length of his captivity worried us,” commented RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire.
On August 19, the French government assured that it remained fully committed to his release, despite the end of the “Barkhane” military operation in Mali. “Every effort is being made to obtain the release of our compatriot,” insisted François Delmas, deputy foreign affairs spokesperson, nearly five hundred days after the journalist’s abduction.
After more than six years of captivity, the American Jeffery Woodke also appeared free Monday at Niamey airport, present alongside Olivier Dubois. This Christian humanitarian came to the aid of nomadic populations with an NGO in Abalak in Niger, before being kidnapped on October 14, 2016 by jihadist groups and taken to Mali according to Nigerien security sources. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said he was “satisfied and relieved” on Twitter, thanking Niger for the “help provided”.
“The hostages were recovered safe and sound by Nigerien authorities before being handed over to French and American authorities,” Nigerien Interior Minister Hamadou Souley said Monday at the airport.
