Yeri Bocoum | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Malian |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Yeri Bocoum is a Malian journalist. After being kidnapped for several weeks in June 2024, Bocoum sought asylum in France in February 2025.
As of June 2024, Bocoum is the vice-president of the Association of Social Media Professionals and Web Actors (APMSWA), which is based in Bamako, Mali's capital. [1] He also runs the Facebook news page YBC-Communication. [2]
Bocoum was last seen in public on 7 June 2024. At the time, he had been covering an unauthorized, but well-attended, demonstration by Synergie pour le Mali (Synergy of Action for Mali), which comprised a coalition of opposition political groups [3] who were protesting against electricity shortages, the high cost of living in the country, and mismanagement of resources by authorities. [1] [2] [4] Bocoum was the only journalist to cover the event. [3] [5] Later that day, Bocoum posted online that he had been followed by two people on motorcycles. [3]
Relatives reported that on 8 June, Bocoum was taken from outside his home in Kati by "unknown assailants". [1] [2] On 13 June, Radio France Internationale reported that Bocoum was being held by "Malian state security services". [2] [5] As of 27 June, Bocoum's family had not received any updates from authorities. [2] Later that month, the Committee to Protect Journalists, an American nonprofit organization, urged Malian authorities to investigate Bocoum's disappearance. [2] The International Federation for Human Rights released a similar report and request. [6]
Yeri Bocoum was freed on June 27. [7] However, Bocoum continued to report threats and surveillance of his movements. [8]
In February 2025, Bocoum fled Mali, traveling through Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. He requested asylum at Châteauroux in southern France, with plans for his application to be reviewed in August 2025. [8]