Death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon: the UN accuses France of hampering the investigation

Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon.

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In a letter to the French authorities, of which Mediapart and the

Guardian

had a copy, the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial executions Agnès Callamard accuses the French army of obstructing the UN investigation into the assassination by Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Mali.

And denounces "troubling gray areas". 

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In her 30-page letter sent to the French authorities and of which 

Mediapart

and the

Guardian

were able to obtain a copy, Agnès Callamard does not mince words.

Seven years after the assassination of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon near Kidal, the UN special rapporteur first asserts that the French army is abusing the rules of defense secrecy to prevent investigators from establishing the truth.

Agnès Callamard denounces an obstacle to the judicial investigation and a violation of international law.

She also mentions the "

initial lies

" of the French authorities.

Allusion in particular to the way in which

the former president François Hollande

and the former boss of the DGSE Bernard Bajolet have varied in their statements.

Both had initially admitted the existence of a wiretapping between an alleged sponsor and a kidnapper of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon before returning to their comments during

their hearing by the judge

.

The “rehabilitation” of Seidane Ag Hitta 

In her letter, Agnès Callamard is also interested in the fate of Seidane Ag Hitta, the alleged sponsor of the assassination.

The man reappeared on the occasion of the release of four hostages, including the French Sophie Pétronin, last October.

Ag Hitta participated in the negotiations.

Photos bear witness to this. 

►

To read also: Assassination of G. Dupont and C. Verlon: Seidane Ag Hitta, the rise of the alleged sponsor

Agnès Callamard denounces what for her constitutes "

a progressive rehabilitation 

" of the brain of the double murder of the two RFI reporters.

All the more so, she adds, since this man served directly or indirectly as an interlocutor for France.

Asked by Mediapart on this subject, the Élysée simply replied that the negotiations were carried out by the Malian authorities alone.

Many of the UN rapporteur's statements were contained in

an investigation conducted by RFI

and published in July 2019. Today, a UN report hammers out these assertions loud and clear. 

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  • Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon

  • France

  • UN

  • Mali