Macron: France ‘does not forget’ journalist Olivier Diboua being held hostage in Mali

France “does not forget” Olivier Diboua, a journalist who has been held hostage by a jihadist organization in Mali since April 2021 and has “fully mobilized” for his release, President Emanuel Macron assured today.

Olivier Diboua is the only French hostage in the world, following the October 2020 release of Sophie Petronen, who was also abducted in Mali.

In early January, his family denounced the authorities’ silence on his fate, launching an online signature collection initiative calling for his release. “We know nothing. This lack of information and this silence is unbearable, at a time when Olivier’s condition is urgent,” they said.

“We are fully mobilized to work for his release,” Macron told reporters at a New Year’s Eve event at the Presidential Palace in Paris.

“Our diplomatic teams, our military and the relevant services are working tirelessly,” he said, adding that the country was “on the side of his family”.

Olivier Diboua, a 47-year-old freelance journalist who has lived and worked in Mali since 2015, announced his abduction in a video posted on May 5, 2021, explaining that he was abducted on April 8 in Gao, in the north of the country. , by the Support Group of Islam and Muslims, a major jihadist alliance in the Sahel, linked to Al Qaeda.

In late May, France confirmed that it was being held hostage by a jihadist group, and the Paris Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office launched a preliminary investigation into “kidnapping by an organized criminal gang” and “in connection with a terrorist operation”.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ