Ouagadougou, The former French hostage, actively wanted, Sophie Petronin, confirmed on Wednesday her presence in the Malian capital.

I have been in Mali for a while. But I am not worried and I am not worried, “Sophie Petronin told Agence Presse France (AFP) on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if I’m wanted and why,” she said.

According to AFP, Ms. Petronin insisted that we “leave (his) relatives alone”.

Indeed, the Malian gendarmerie sent a message to all units instructing them to “actively seek” the French ex-hostage at the end of last week.

The gendarmes had orders in case of discovery to “apprehend her and lead her under good escort” to the direction of the gendarmerie, according to the internal message published on social networks and authenticated by AFP with the competent services.

Following the dissemination of this wanted notice, the information on Sophie Pétronin’s presence in Mali has been confirmed for several days.

And according to the online investigative media Mediapart, she has been back in Mali since March 2021.

Ms. Pétronin said she lived in the suburbs of the capital Bamako, AFP reported.

Moreover, the agency informed that the former hostage is “apparently rather surprised at the noise caused by his return” to Mali.

According to AFP, the Malian authorities did not respond to questions from the agency, which asked them whether Ms. Pétronin could be taken back to the border in the event of an arrest.

Sophie Petronin was kidnapped in December 2016 and released in October 2020.

As soon as she was released, she had expressed her intention to return to Mali where she had led for twenty years, a children’s aid organization in the north of the country, and also adopted a girl.

Source: Burkina Information Agency