Gerco van Deventer was captured in Libya in November 2017 then sold to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (Jnim) and transferred to Mali where he shared part of his captivity with French hostage Olivier Dubois. He was released on Saturday December 16 and handed over to the Algerian authorities on the border with Mali, according to the South African foundation Gift of the Givers, which has served as mediator since 2018.
2 mins
South African hostage Gerco van Deventer will be able to spend Christmas with his family. He was released on Saturday December 16 and transmitted to the Algerian authorities on the border with Mali, according to the South African Foundation Gift of the Givers which has served as mediator since 2018. According to it, no ransom was paid, reports our correspondent in Johannesburg, Roman Song. The family could not afford to pay the initial ransom of three million dollars, which rose to $500,000 and which would have fallen to zero.
The foundation says it received a call from a Mauritanian on December 5 who explained that it was working to free Gerco van Deventer. It is finally via Algeria that the South African was released and taken to hospital to undergo health examinations. Gerco van Deventer was shot in the left arm during his detention.
Six years of detention
The release of Gerco van Deventer ends more than six years of detention. This South African paramedic was kidnapped on November 3, 2017 in southern Libya before being sold to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (Jnim), linked to al-Qaeda, and transferred to northern Libya. Mali.
French journalist Olivier Dubois, released on March 20, 2023, indicated that he had spent a little over a year and a half in captivity with Gerco van Deventer in the Malian desert. This father of three children will finally be able to reunite with his family, his wife Shereen who continued to publicize his case, sometimes with relative indifference.
Contacted by RFI, Gerco van Deventer’s wife, Shereen, said she was still waiting for concrete proof of his release. On the South African side, the authorities have not yet reacted despite our multiple reminders.
Read alsoMali played a role in the release of journalist Olivier Dubois, according to Choguel Maïga