“You are like a dog with its master”, says François de Labarre, journalist kidnapped in the Central African Republic

Mélanie Faure 8:31 p.m., January 27, 2023

He is back in France, after a trip to the Central African Republic which almost turned into a tragedy.

François de Labarre covered the rebel zones of the Central African country, investigating the abuses of the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization which works for the interests of Russia and which would take more and more space in the Central African Republic.

François de Labarre - and his acolyte Véronique de Viguerie, photographer - knew the risks involved but only spent two days on the spot for a report dedicated to

.

But their mission will drag on when they meet General Mahamat Saleh in the area controlled by the leader of the rebel groups.

"Everything went rather well, as far as possible, during these two days of investigation until the evening, the day before our departure, when General Saleh came to see us. He called us traitors, he insulted us, he threatened us. He had it in his head that if French journalists came to see him, it was because France was going to support rebels from the Central African Republic", says François de Labarre at the microphone of Europe 1 .

“The idea of ​​selling us crossed his mind”

Everything changes when General Mahamat Saleh realizes their true intentions.

"When he understood that we were there to do a report and that we were not there to support his guerrillas - at least, that's the interpretation we made of it - he took it very badly taken and he wondered how he was going to be able to use these two journalists."

This is the start of five days of sequestration.

"We couldn't call the newspaper, we couldn't give any sign of anyone," says the journalist, father of a family.

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To survive, François de Labarre and Virginie de Viguerie decide to let go.

"It's a kind of psychological upheaval. You become alienated from the good will of one person", says the

journalist with pain .

"You are like a dog with its master. There is an ability to eradicate the personality which is tremendous because you are in the hands of a person who does what they want with you. And that was it was an experience that was extremely difficult."

General Saleh thinks of selling them in order to earn money but comes up against their protests.

With Véronique de Viguerie, he tries to control the situation.

"We were trying to anticipate the reactions of the general who is a narcissistic pervert and who was trying to manipulate us."

And to hold on, they think of their colleague Olivier Dubois, detained in Mali.

The journalist specializing in the Sahel had been kidnapped in Gao, detained by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

"We thought of the hostage, Olivier Dubois, who was kidnapped 22 months ago. We thought of him because he is alone and he has been alone for 22 months."

Finally, thanks to the support of those who "welcomed them well", they were released by General Mahamat Saleh.