Zoé Pallier, edited by Juline Garnier and Ugo Pascolo
modified to
7:53 p.m., April 08, 2022
Three weeks ago, in a video posted on social networks, Olivier Dubois appeared to be in good shape and asked his relatives to continue their efforts to release them. His sister, Valérie Dubois, and her brother-in-law confided in Europe 1.
Journalist Olivier Dubois has been in the hands of jihadists for a year, on April 8, 2021. They had been kidnapped in Gao, Mali, by a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The newspaper correspondent Pointof Release and of Young Africa is today the only French hostage in the world. Three weeks ago, in a video posted on social networks, he appeared in rather good shape and asked his relatives to continue their efforts to have them released. A call heard by the family who published a video to raise public awareness, with the participation of several journalists.
“This video was really a breath of fresh air”
“At the start, I thought he was going to be released quickly. It’s true that since April 8, it’s still been a long wait. But what makes us feel good is to be supported on the one hand, and to be mobilized and active. To mobilize on the networks, to always talk about Olivier and his action. The fact that he was a journalist, everything that was automatically implemented, that bears fruit since we had this video which was really a breath of fresh air”, she says at the microphone of Europe 1.
“Of course, when you are in action, time passes. What we want is that there is not a second year. I would not like to have you next time, on April 8. But despite everything, we are not discouraged,” added Valérie Dubois.
“A form of slowness on the part of the State regarding Olivier’s case”
For his part, his brother-in-law Benjamin evokes “a certain form of incomprehension compared to a form of slowness of the State as regards the case of Olivier”. “Even if we can call the Elysée crisis unit regularly, we have no more information on possible negotiations or things like that. All that we have learned about Olivier’s situation was by journalists or Twitter, before the French state. So it was time for us to take action”, he says at the microphone of Europe 1.
And to continue: “Our tone is hardening a little because we have the impression that the people who hold it are ready to move forward quickly. And then, we will continue to carry out quite impactful actions like that, because it Unfortunately, that’s the only way things move forward.”