Catherine Colonna wants “no one to doubt it”. “Every effort has been made to obtain the release of Olivier Dubois, since his abduction”, promises the Minister of Foreign Affairs in an interview with the daily Liberation, this Friday. At the same time, the family of the only French hostage listed in the world is calling for Emmanuel Macron to be sent a postcard asking for his release, as his 500 days of captivity in Mali approach.
The mother, sister and brother-in-law of Olivier Dubois ask those who want to support him to get “a postcard respectful of its addressee” and to write this message on it: “Hello Mr. President, when Olivier Dubois journalist, will he return to France? 500 days… Free Olivier Dubois”. This postcard must then be sent to the Head of State at the Élysée, (“without a stamp, it’s free”, specifies the press release from the family).
“Duty of discretion”
The freelance journalist will celebrate his 48th birthday in captivity this Saturday. Living and working in Mali since 2015, he had himself announced his kidnapping in a video broadcast on social networks on May 5, 2021. He explained there that he had been kidnapped on April 8 in Gao, in northern Mali, by the Group Support for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel, linked to Al-Qaeda. In January, his family launched an online petition calling for his release.
For its part, the government pleads “discretion” in its action. “Any breach of discretion jeopardizes and complicates the work carried out. In terms of kidnappings, there is only one rule: it is really to respect, as strictly as possible, this obligation of discretion, ”insists Catherine Colonna.