Olivier Dubois Biography
Olivier Dubois is a French journalist who covers Malian affairs for Le Point and Libération. He was taken hostage by the terrorist organization Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in April 2021.
He worked as a freelancer for Libération in 2020, covering a number of significant Mali-related events, including the 2020 Malian demonstrations and the release of French-Swiss aid worker Sophie Pétronin, who had been kidnapped by Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
After a concerted effort by Niger and France, he was released 711 days later, in March 2023. During the Lebanese Civil War till 2023, this is the longest detention of a French journalist.
Olivier dubois career
He worked as a freelancer for Libération in 2020, covering a number of significant Mali-related events, including the 2020 Malian demonstrations and the release of French-Swiss aid worker Sophie Pétronin, who had been kidnapped by Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin.
In order to cover problems in the area, he relocated to Bamako, Mali, in 2015. He oversaw the production of the Poilorama documentary series for ARTE Créative there.
He spent several days with the Dan Na Ambassagou militia covering clashes in the Dogon region of Mali in late February 2021, and Libération published his images for the first time.
Why Olivier Dubois was Abducted
Dubois arrived in Gao via aircraft on April 8. His fixer, who had organized the interview and was later detained, said that he got into a car with a group of guys after eating breakfast at the Askia Motel. Two days later, on April 10, Dubois did not show up for his flight out of Gao.
Dubois had pitched a story to Libération in late March 2021 requesting an interview with Abdallah Ag Albakaye, a lieutenant in Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, the official branch of Al-Qaeda in Mali. Dubois was interested in learning more about the group’s conflict with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, a rival jihadist organization.
Olivier Dubois Released
He claimed to have been abducted in a 21-second video posted to social media on May 4. In his statement, he pleads with “my family, my friends, and the French authorities for them to do all in their power to liberate me.” The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that he had vanished.
And that they were looking into the video’s veracity after it was made public. During that month, the abduction was verified by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
His immediate release was demanded in a statement released on May 7 by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The statement noted that “journalists covering the Sahel region confront an extraordinarily high fear of kidnapping. Also, operate under highly dangerous circumstances.”
Reporters sans frontières organized protests on June 7 in Paris and Bamako demanding his release.
Olivier Dubois Wife| Children
Dubois has a wife and two children. The couple lives happily together.
Olivier Dubois Twitter
Follow Dubois on his Twitter page