“Imagine a world without information, without journalists. You would not know what is happening in your region, nor in neighboring countries, nor in the world,” stated Geneviève Roussel, the delegate of Reporters Without Borders in Alpes-Maritimes, during the press conference held at the Nice City Hall. This was in reference to Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, the two France 3 journalists taken hostage by the Taliban while they were making a report for the France 3 magazine, “Pièces à conviction.” Christian Estrosi, the minister-mayor, recalled that it was “one of the longest hostage situations in the history of French journalism in the last twenty years.” To pay them tribute, the portrait of the two reporters will be placed at the entrance of Nice’s city hall. Those who wish can also sign a book to show their support. You can also send an email on the site https://www.soutienherveetstephane.org/
“A Golden Goose”
This is how Geneviève Roussel defines a journalist. “They are a bargaining chip, a safe value for kidnappers. They know that journalists are regrettably very marketable.” Hostage-takers can demand a ransom, the release of a certain number of their own, or well a unilateral withdrawal from one zone or another. As of now, Geneviève Roussel claims not to know the demands of the kidnappers. It is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the army that are negotiating.
However, contact has been established with the two reporters. “We learned that they were not mistreated, that they were relatively in good detention conditions. From time to time, they could listen to RFI. A support demonstration like today reaches them. They know that we are thinking of them and that they have not been forgotten.”
