More than a decade after the killing of RFI journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in northern Mali, a French judge is requesting to declassify more documents that may shed new light on the case.
Issued on: 09/02/2026 - RFI
French journalists Ghislaine Dupont (R) and Claude Verlon (L), were murdered in Mali in 2013. AFP - SIA KAMBOU
The anti-terrorism investigating judge looking into the assassination of the journalists sent the request last month to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.
This comes after a request from the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit.
“There have already been several declassifications, but they were limited, with documents heavily redacted,” Danièle Gonod, president of the Association of Friends of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, told French news agency AFP.
According to Gonod, authorities had previously invoked the top-secret nature of the documents, citing the need to protect French sources in Mali.
French forces had been supporting Mali against insurgents for nearly a decade, but were pulled out in the wake of a military takeover in August 2020.
“Today, there is no longer a single French soldier in Mali, so there are no sources left to protect,” Gonod said.
Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and Claude Verlon, 55, were abducted while reporting for RFI and killed on 2 November, 2013 near the town of Kidal, just months after France launched Operation Serval to counter jihadist groups threatening to seize the Malian capital of Bamako.
The anti-terrorism investigating judge looking into the assassination of the journalists sent the request last month to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.
This comes after a request from the plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit.
“There have already been several declassifications, but they were limited, with documents heavily redacted,” Danièle Gonod, president of the Association of Friends of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, told French news agency AFP.
According to Gonod, authorities had previously invoked the top-secret nature of the documents, citing the need to protect French sources in Mali.
French forces had been supporting Mali against insurgents for nearly a decade, but were pulled out in the wake of a military takeover in August 2020.
“Today, there is no longer a single French soldier in Mali, so there are no sources left to protect,” Gonod said.
Ghislaine Dupont, 57, and Claude Verlon, 55, were abducted while reporting for RFI and killed on 2 November, 2013 near the town of Kidal, just months after France launched Operation Serval to counter jihadist groups threatening to seize the Malian capital of Bamako.
Unanswered questions
While the group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had previously claimed the murders of Dupont and Verlon, the precise circumstances surrounding their deaths have never been fully clarified.
According to French authorities, a convoy of French soldiers discovered the journalists’ bodies near the pick-up truck driven by their abductors. Investigators said the vehicle had broken down, bolstering the theory of a failed hostage-taking carried out by a jihadist group. The reporters were said to have been slain by gunfire.
However, Danièle Gonod says that telephone data gathered during the investigation points to “a real jihadist network, political and organised, with ties to Algeria".
Discrepancies in French Army account on 2013 murder of RFI reporters in Mali
The judge is now requesting intelligence on two suspects believed to be still alive: Sidan Ag Hita, one of the alleged masterminds, and Hamadi Ag Mohamed, one of four men said to have carried out the abduction.
The judge noted that Sidan Ag Hita had since become “an important jihadist leader”, reportedly negotiating directly with the Malian state over hostage releases.
The judge also requested information on Cheikh Ag Haoussa, a Tuareg leader who was due to meet the journalists in Kidal.
According to the judge, Haoussa was allegedly seen hours before the abduction in the company of Baye Ag Bakabo, identified as the head of the team that kidnapped and killed the two journalists.
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