" Where is the problem ?
".
Former French hostage Sophie Pétronin again defended her return to Mali, in a short interview broadcast this Thursday by BFMTV.
The 76-year-old former humanitarian released last year has come under recent criticism for returning to the country where she was held for almost four years but says she is at home.
Sophie Pétronin wanted to reassure her about her living conditions in Mali, which raise many questions.
“Where I am, I am safe, well guarded, well protected, well fed.
I eat well, I drink well, I sleep well.
I have no problem, ”she explains at the microphone of the continuous news channel.
"I have never been converted in my life"
The ex-hostage also returned to the rumors surrounding his conversion to Islam.
“Everyone proclaimed that I had been converted (…) I have never been converted, ok?
Since 2002, when my daughter was born, I started to learn Islam ”, she defended.
Before insisting: “I have never been converted in my life, even during the four years of captivity.
"
To read also "I am in great shape": the moving reunion between Sophie Pétronin and her son
Prior to her abduction in 2016, Sophie Pétronin lived in Gao, Mali, where she had headed a children's aid organization for years.
After her release, she presented a de-dramatized vision of her detention conditions and declared that she wanted to return to the country.
Above all, she had explained that she wanted in particular to find her adopted daughter who remained there.
“France is France, with its qualities and its faults, its strengths and its weaknesses.
On the other hand, Mali has stayed and thank God, Wallah and thank God ”, she added to BFMTV.
"His place is in Bamako with his daughter"
Shortly after the announcement of his return to Mali, the spokesperson for the French government, Gabriel Attal, criticized a "form of irresponsibility" vis-à-vis "his security" but also vis-à-vis " the security of our soldiers ”, likely to be called upon to intervene to free hostages.
According to her son, Sophie Pétronin lives in Bamako, where she only makes rare trips under the guard of a security escort, in a private capacity.
“She was very unhappy, it was very difficult,” commented Sébastien Chadaud-Pétronin.
But his place is in Bamako with his daughter.
She just wants everyone to forget about her, to leave her alone ”.