Last month, a French journalist named Olivier Dubois disappeared while traveling in Mali. In a video that emerged yesterday, Dubois stated that he had been kidnapped by a jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda that calls themselves JNIM, which stands for the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims. Dubois states that he was kidnapped in Gao, Mali, on April 8 and has spent the past month in captivity. Dubois is seen pleading to the French authorities for help.
Both the French foreign ministry and the French government have commented on the video, stating that they were carrying out technical verifications and confirmed Dubois’s story. The Committee to Protect Journalists has urged the government to take action, citing extreme worry over the captured journalist’s safety and wellbeing. Dubois is a correspondent based in Mali where he regularly reports for several French media outlets, including the magazine Le Point.
Read More: French journalist kidnapped in Mali pleads for help in video