Mali journalists' murder case advances with document release
French investigators received partial declassification of a military note from April 2024 in the 2013 Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon case.
13 years after the murders of journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Kidal, Mali, the judicial investigation in France has moved forward. On April 15, 2026, the French Commission for National Defence Secrecy approved the partial declassification of a note from the French Ministry of Armed Forces dated April 24, 2024. Judge Valéry Muller, leading the investigation into kidnapping, sequestration, and murder linked to terrorism, requested the document.
This decision marks the fourth declassification procedure in the case, following similar actions in 2016, 2017, and 2023. While some technical details remain classified, other information can now be shared with the magistrate and civil parties. No trial has yet established full responsibility for the abduction and assassination of the two Radio France Internationale reporters, who were found dead shortly after being kidnapped in Kidal on November 2, 2013.
Seidane Ag Hitta is named in the investigation as a suspected instigator, a qualification pending judicial confirmation. Malian authorities also seek Ag Hitta, identifying him as a leader for the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims in the Kidal region, offering a 500 million FCFA reward for information leading to his arrest in 2026. Civil parties are requesting international arrest warrants for him and Hamadi Ag Mohamed, cited as a suspected member of the commando.
Why it mattersThe investigation into the 2013 murders of two RFI journalists in Mali is progressing with new document access, though no one has been convicted.