Sjaak Rijke

Sjaak Rijke (Dutch pronunciation: [ʃaːk ˈrɛikə]) is a Dutch national who was held hostage by a faction of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb region in Mali since 25 November 2011 with Stephen Malcolm McGown from South Africa and Johan Gustafsson from Sweden. He was liberated by French special forces in the north of Mali on April 6, 2015.^[1]

Abduction

Mr Rijke, who works as a train driver in his native the Netherlands, was taken hostage in Timbuktu in northern Mali on 25 November 2011, together with Mr Malcolm and Mr Gustafsson. They were all in Mali as tourists, despite the recent unrest and insurgencies in the region. Mr Rijke's wife managed to escape the attack by hiding from the perpetrators. A German tourist who refused to cooperate with the attackers was killed at the scene. Mr Rijke, Mr Malcolm and Mr Gustafsson were subsequently taken to an undisclosed hiding place.

After his hostage taking, the Dutch government issued a negative travel advice for the northern part of Mali.^[2]

Aftermath

In a video posted on YouTube on 12 July 2012, Mr Rijke said he had been captured by Al Qaeda and that he was treated well.^[3]

One month later, in August 2012, Arabic TV news broadcaster Al Jazeera broadcast a report in which Mr Rijke and the other two hostages were featured,^[4] urging their respective governments to negotiate with Al Qaeda for their release.

In September 2013, almost two years after the kidnapping, AQIM released a video in which Mr Rijke called upon the Dutch government "not to forget about him".^[5] The video was probably recorded in June 2013. It was the first sign of Mr Rijke or any of the other hostages since French military actions in Mali in January 2013 when Islamist radicals had threatened to capture Mali's capital Bamako.

August 21, 2014, on social media the case of Sjaak Rijke caught slight attention with the hashtag #FreeSjaak, commemorating 1000 days of captivity.^[6]

In November 2014, AQIM released another video in which Mr Rijke addresses the Dutch government and his family. He says he is in pain and in a difficult security situation, and asks in an emotional way to please help him. The video was made on September 26, 2014, according to Mr Rijke.^[7]

Rijke ultimately survived the kidnapping, having been rescued by soldiers of the BFST in April 2015.^[8]

References