South African hostage Jericho van Deventer, held in Mali, has been released after six years in captivity
Jericho van Deventer was captured in Libya in November 2017 and then sold to the Islam and Muslim Support Group (JENIM) and taken to Mali where he shared part of his captivity with French hostage Olivier Dubois. He was released on Saturday, December 16, and handed over to Algerian authorities on the border with Mali, according to the South African Foundation Gift of the Givers, which has been acting as an intermediary since 2018.
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South African hostage Jericho van Deventer will be able to spend Christmas with his family. He was released on Saturday, December 16, and was handed over to the Algerian authorities on the border with Mali, according to the South African Gift of the Givers Foundation, which has been acting as an intermediary since 2018. According to it, no ransom was paid, our correspondent in Johannesburg reported, Romanian song. The family was unable to pay the initial ransom of $3 million, which rose to $500,000 and would have been reduced to zero.
The foundation says that it received a phone call from Mauritanian on December 5 in which he explained that it was working to release Jericho van Deventer. It’s finally here via Algeria said that the South African was released and taken to hospital for health examinations. Jericho van Deventer was shot in the left arm during his arrest.
Six years of detention
The release of Jericho van Deventer ends more than six years of detention. This South African paramedic was kidnapped on November 3, 2017 in southern Libya before being sold to the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which is linked to Al-Qaeda, and transferred to northern Libya in Mali.
French journalist Olivier Dubois, who was released on March 20, 2023, indicated that he spent a little more than a year and a half in captivity with Jericho van Deventer in the financial desert. The father of three will finally be able to reunite with his family, his wife Sherine, who has continued to publicize his case, sometimes with relative indifference.
Contacted by Radio France Internationale, Gerco van Deventer’s wife, Shirin, said she was still waiting for concrete evidence of his release. From the South African side, the authorities have not yet responded despite our multiple reminders.
Read alsoMali played a role in the release of journalist Olivier Dubois, according to Choguel Maiga
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