By RFIPosted on 14-01-2020Modified on 14-01-2020 at 22:34

For Socialist Senator Jean-Pierre Sueur, the position of the Ministry of the Armed Forces on the gray areas surrounding the assassination of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon is "unsatisfactory".

This January 14, in the middle of the G5 Sahel summit in Pau , the French socialist senator Jean-Pierre Sueur challenged the Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly on the gray areas of the Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon affair, two murdered RFI journalists in Kidal, Mali on November 2, 2013.

His question related to several specific points: the status of one of the kidnappers, who was in contact with French intelligence services several months before the tragedy, the possible link between the release of Arlit's hostages and the kidnapping of two journalists and finally the role of the French special forces at the time of the pursuit as well as the very nature of the pursuit launched.

“ Denial of the right to information ”

Laurent Nuñez, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior, assured that the Ministry of the Armed Forces supported judicial investigations with " diligence " but that this support was not intended to be made public. However, this answer is unsatisfactory for Senator Jean-Pierre Sueur.

I challenged the government this morning on the assassination of Ghislaine DUPONT and Claude VERLON, journalists from Radio France international (RFI), which occurred on November 2, 2013 in the Kidal region of Mali @RFI https://t.co/ MGbd9IXciN

Jean-Pierre Sueur (@JP_Sueur) January 14, 2020

" The ministry [of the Armed Forces] says : "we have responded to justice but you, the parliamentarians, circulate, there is nothing to do. And we have the secret defense which allows us to say what we want", he summarizes. The conclusion is very simple : the addition of the secrecy of the investigation and the defense-secrecy results in the negation of the right to information of the public, the French, the opinion, the journalists and the members of parliament ”.

For the families, relatives, colleagues and colleagues of these two murdered journalists, nothing is worse than silence.

Death of G. Dupont and C. Verlon: the socialist senator Jean-Pierre Sueur challenges the Minister for the Armed Forces

14-01-2020 - By RFI

" I deplore this because in the case of facts of a public nature, which have been brought to the fore by investigations carried out by journalists and published in the media, the government should at least speak out and say what is true or false , continues Jean-Pierre Sueur. For the families, relatives, colleagues and colleagues of these two murdered journalists, nothing is worse than silence ”.

► To read also : Death of G. Dupont and C. Verlon: French parliamentarians challenge the State

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