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With Olivier Dubois, hostage journalist in Mali

AT the initiative of Reporters Without Borders, the support committee #FreeOlivierDubois, France Médias Monde (Radio France Internationale, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya), the editorial staff of Radio France, former hostages such as Florence Aubenas (Iraq) and Didier François (Syria), from the Union of Press Clubs of France and French-speaking countries, SOS Otages and, of course, the media with which Olivier Dubois collaborates (Point, Release and Young Africa), a rally is therefore planned in Paris, Place de la République, this Tuesday, June 8 at 11:30 am At the same time, in Bamako, at the Maison de la Presse, a similar event is planned.

It is a question, beyond the call for the release of Olivier Dubois, to mark a strong solidarity with the place of his family, his friends and all those who, from near or far, were sensitive to his work and feel concerned by his fate today. The date was not chosen at random. It will be exactly two months that our colleague has been in the hands of jihadists, including Olivier Dubois, in the video of the twenty seconds broadcast on social networks on the night of May 4, said that they are from the Support Group for the Islam and Muslims (Jnim, according to the organization’s Arabic acronym, which pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda). Without confirming that the kidnappers of the French journalist are indeed GSIM, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, confirmed a few days later that our correspondent was indeed “hostage of a jihadist group”.

Mark solidarity with man and journalist

Beyond this consideration, this gathering is part of a dynamic of solidarity with the man, his family, his friends, but also with the professional who covered, among other media, for Le Point Afrique, site of the Point dedicated to the continent, important and essential sequences of the situation in Mali. An information sleuth, Olivier Dubois has lifted the veil on several major themes that have affected political life and Malian society since the jihadist invasion was stopped by the French forces (within Serval, then Barkhane) , Chadians and others, next to the Malian soldiers.

On the relationship between religion and the State, the differentiated approaches of each other concerning the relationship to be established with the jihadists (dialogue or not), the evolution of the military situation on the ground, the internal reality of the kidnappings with the series on the hostage Sophie Pétronin to the difficulty of tracking jihadists and ensuring security throughout the territory, as well as the impact on teachers and students in schools scattered around Mali, through the precious words of personalities at the forefront of the situation on the ground, such as Colonel Frédéric Barbry, spokesperson for the French army; Youssouf Toloba, head of Dan Na Ambassagou – autonomous organization fighting against jihadists in Dogon Country -; Mahmoud Dicko, ex-president of the High Islamic Council of Mali and an important player, with the M5, in the fall of ex-president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta; the sheriff of Nioro, bearer of a Sufi sensitivity in a country taken by storm by Saudi Salafism, etc., Olivier Dubois has been a reliable and relevant source of information for Internet users who do us the honor of following us .

Mali, ranked 99e out of 180 to last World Press Freedom Index 2021, is a complicated field of operations for journalists, whether nationals or foreigners. This only reinforces the respect we have for the work that our colleague Olivier Dubois has provided since he settled on the banks of the Djoliba River in 2015.


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