Death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon: 9 years later, new requests for declassification
Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon were kidnapped and murdered on November 2, 2013 while on assignment in Kidal, northern Mali.
RFI
Text by: David Baché |
Marie-Pierre Olphand Follow
6 mins
New requests for declassification of secret-defense documents, telephone analyses: nine years after the kidnapping and assassination of our colleagues Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Kidal (northern Mali) by jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, update on the latest progress of the investigation.
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Most of the work of the investigators has focused over the past twelve months on analyzing the telephone records of the protagonists of the drama, and in particular the chips found in the vehicle abandoned by the kidnappers.
The fadettes of the operator Malitel, obtained after a hard fight a little over a year ago, came to complete those of Orange Mali already in the file.
The analysis by experts from the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI) is far from over, but it is already broadening the spectrum of suspects.
“
We must obviously remain very careful, but new people are appearing,
explains Danièle Gonod, the president of the Association of Friends of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, civil party in the file.
Some are identified, others will have to be, but this new information highlights that far from being an opportunistic organization of a few jihadist underlings, it is in fact probably a vast network which has premeditated and carefully organized the abduction of Ghislaine and Claude who were followed from their arrival in Kidal and all the days preceding their abduction.
»
Danièle Gonod, President of the Association of Friends of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon
David Bache
Investigators still have to cross-check and compare this telephone data to try to formally identify the accomplices that made the kidnapping of our colleagues possible.
Top secret
Nine years after the events, the investigating judge is banking on telephony.
But not only: after the secret-defense documents already declassified in 2016 and 2017 – but very partially –, Jean-Marc Herbaut requests the declassification of new documents.
In particular, the judge wants to obtain details on the context of the elimination and identification of several jihadists from AQIM involved in the assassination of our colleagues, and who have since been killed by the French army.
►
To read also: Death of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon: "Two priorities clash: that of justice and that of the army"
Abdelkrim Al Targui, head of the AQIM katiba who had claimed responsibility for the double assassination, and two of the four members of the commando who had acted on the ground, have been "neutralized" in recent years - a third member of the commando is said to be died in a car accident.
Were they killed in the simple context of the fight against terrorism led by France in the Sahel?
Have any been targeted specifically, to prevent them from speaking?
This is what the civil parties fear and what the judge seeks to verify.
Baye Ag Bakabo: informant of the French services?
The case of Baye Ag Bakabo is particularly appealing.
Head of the commando at work that day,
he was killed near Kidal a year and a half ago
in a French anti-terrorist operation.
Officially, his presence was only known after the fact, but several sources, in particular the military, assure RFI that Baye Ag Bakabo was well tracked and targeted.
However, this jihadist, who then presented himself as a repentant, had been auditioned by the French services in Kidal in March 2013, a few months before the assassination of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, and had even accepted the principle of a new meeting. .
This was revealed by declassified secret-defense documents in 2016. Had he become an informant?
Could this have had consequences in the assassination of our colleagues?
Because the investigating judge asks himself these questions, he also asks to know the possible consequences of this hearing.
“
It is extremely important to know if these hearings had any follow-up,
and to know the reality of the relationship between the kidnappers and the French army, whether they were informants or not.
“, estimates Danièle Gonod, of the Association of the friends of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon.
Daniele Gonod
David Bache
A request that could be extended.
According to a note from the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE) consulted by RFI, a second member of the commando had also been interviewed by the French services in Kidal, this same month of March 2013:
Alhassane Ag Toukassa, "neutralized"
by the French army three years later near Kidal.
Requests without follow-up
The civil parties had requested last year the hearing by the judge of Moussa Diawara, the former head of the Malian intelligence services.
They have also been asking for months to declassify the written report of Commander Charles, who at the time headed the French special forces in Kidal.
While their presence and their involvement have long remained absent from the official version of the army and the French authorities, we now know that Commander Charles was one of the first informed and that his men even tried to pursue abductors.
The civil parties therefore wish that the documents concerning the action of the French special forces in Kidal that day – Commander Charles' report to his superiors or other – be added to the file.
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To read also (2019 article): Death of G. Dupont and C. Verlon: the special forces pursued the kidnappers
No follow-up has yet been given to these two requests, to the knowledge of the civil parties.
But the investigation also suffers from the current state of Franco-Malian relations, which complicates judicial cooperation and the slightest trip by the French judge to Bamako.
For the first time in four years, Judge Jean-Marc Herbaut met all the civil parties on June 30.
Apolline Verlon-Raizon, Claude Verlon's daughter, was present and listened carefully to the progress report that the judge presented to them.
“
I expected more progress and I tell myself that yes, the investigation is progressing, but that it is stalling, she
laments.
And when we see the very difficult relations between France and Mali, it adds a leaden screed to a file that is already difficult to access.
We are nine years old!
How much longer do we have?
I would just like people who have something to contribute in this case, who have something to say, to stop being afraid and to do so
.
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Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon
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