French justice appoints two investigating judges to investigate the kidnapping of Olivier Dubois. The French journalist, who works notably for Release Where Point, was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Gao, northern Mali, while on assignment. He has since been held hostage by the Jnim, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The Malian and French authorities claim to be mobilized for his release. The appointment of these two judges and the opening in France of a judicial investigation was demanded by those close to Olivier Dubois.
The judicial information was opened at the beginning of October, in the greatest discretion.
Judicial sources reveal today that two investigating judges were appointed a little over three months ago: Bertrand Grain and Jean-Marc Herbaut belong to the anti-terrorist pole of the Paris court. Jean-Marc Herbaut has even been the coordinator since last September.
The two men are therefore regulars in the jihadist sphere, Judge Herbaut even knows his actors very specifically in Mali since he is already in charge of the investigation into the assassination of our colleagues from RFI Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, killed in Kidal in 2013. An assassination claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an ally of Jnim, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims which currently holds the French journalist.
After the kidnapping of Olivier Dubois, more than 21 months ago, French justice had opened a preliminary investigation. The opening of a judicial investigation had been demanded for months by those close to Olivier Dubois: it will allow the constitution of civil parties – friends, families or organizations for the defense of journalists for example, such as Reporters Without Borders, which confirmed this intention this Tuesday, January 10, in a press release.
Above all, the lawyers for the civil parties will have access to the judicial file and therefore to the first elements of the investigation in progress. This will allow them to finally learn more about the conditions in which Olivier Dubois was kidnapped and the role of the various actors involved.
So many elements to better understand and, this is what those close to the journalist hope, to accelerate the initiatives in progress, of the French and Malian States, for his release.
Maître Laurent Bayon, lawyer for Déborah Al Hawi Al Masri, mother of the children of Olivier Dubois:
” I welcome the opening of this judicial investigation, which I had requested and which allows me to access all the investigations that have been carried out since the kidnapping of Olivier Dubois. It allows you to understand and discuss with the authorities who are responsible for obtaining his release. Until then, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office had initially wanted to conduct a preliminary investigation which was totally secret, whose actions were completely secret. No one had access to these investigations. However, the Public Prosecutor’s Office even traveled to Mali, and collected a certain amount of information making it possible to understand under what conditions and by whom Olivier Dubois was kidnapped. This information is important for the family, who needs to know things and to see that Justice is at work to elucidate and, perhaps, facilitate the release. »
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