Guy-André Kieffer (25 May 1949
- April 16, 2004) was a
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
of dual
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
and
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
nationality who worked in
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
generally, and in
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...
specifically. On April 16, 2004, he was kidnapped from an
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
parking lot and has not been seen since.
[ In early 2012 remains suspected to belong to Kieffer were found in the department of Issia, in the west of Côte d'Ivoire.
]
Career
Kieffer was born and raised in France; his family lives in the region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...
. He studied law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
in Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, and while there married a Canadian woman and obtained Canadian nationality; this marriage produced a son Sébastien-Cédric but later resulted in divorce. Kieffer was married to Osange Silou-Kieffer; they have a daughter Canelle.[
From 1984 to 2002, Kieffer worked for the French financial newspaper '']La Tribune
() is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH.
From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...
''. Following this he worked in West Africa for a number of years, and wrote articles concerning political corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...
in African governments for several different publications.
Among these publications were his former newspaper ''La Tribune'' and also '' La Lettre du Continent'' as well as several Ivorian newspapers.
Kidnapping and probable murder
At approximately 1 p.m. on April 16, 2004, Kieffer was kidnapped in the parking lot of a shopping center in Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
.[ At the time he was working on a story about money laundering and illegal currency transfers allegedly involving the Ivorian government.
He had been drawn there by someone claiming to have leads on a government corruption story he was assembling. He has never been seen since, nor has a corpse been found. To this day his fate and the identity of his kidnappers remains a mystery.
In a 2006 interview regarding her book ''Bitter Chocolate'', CBC journalist ]Carol Off
Carol Off (born 1954/1955) is a Canadian journalist, commentator, and author formerly associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio.
Early life
Off was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1954 or 1955. She moved to Ottawa at ten years old and later ...
claimed that Kieffer's disappearance and probable murder was related to his investigation of the shady practices involving the Ivorian government and the cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
industry. She had traveled to Côte d'Ivoire to research her book, and claimed that upon her arrival in the country Canadian embassy officials had given her a stern warning regarding Kieffer:
: SU: "Did you ever find yourself in danger like he iefferdid?"
: Off: "I had a meeting with the Canadian Embassy and they said "you shouldn't be here asking questions about cocoa. It's very dangerous. But if you have to, at the very least, don't ask any questions about Guy-André Kieffer. Whatever you do, don't even mention his name."
: "Maybe that's good advice, but wherever I went they would raise his name and in ways that I realized weren't even veiled threats. I would be speaking with somebody in the business and they would say, 'You know what happened to the last person who asked these questions? I wonder where he is now?' They would just look at you. You got the message. I quickly realized how incredibly sinister and evil this story really was."
Legal proceedings
In May 2004, civil proceedings concerning Kieffer's disappearance were launched in France by Kieffer's family and Reporters sans frontières
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the beli ...
. The French magistrate charged with the case was sent to Abidjan and there interrogated Michel Legré, a brother-in-law of the wife of Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, who was allegedly the last person to see Kieffer alive. Legré provided a list of names of influential Ivorians who he alleged were involved in Kieffer's kidnapping.[
This list of names was subsequently published in some Ivorian newspapers. In 2004, Legré was arrested in Abidjan by Ivorian police and charged with complicity in a kidnapping, illegal imprisonment, and ]murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
. He was also charged with defamation for naming the individuals on the list.[ Legré was provisionally released in 2005 and has since fled the country – or is in an unknown location.
Subsequently, the French magistrate was not granted access to all of the persons named by Legré. The magistrate questioned Legré himself on 21 October 2004, and on 13 December 2004 requested that Legré be temporarily moved to France, as he felt Legré was unable to speak freely in his Ivorian prison. However, the French government initially did not aid in this request, for which they were denounced by Kieffer's wife Osange Silou-Kieffer.][
On August 23, 2007, French president ]Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...
met with Kieffer's wife Osange Silou-Kieffer in Paris and expressed his determination to aid in the case. Silou-Kieffer claimed that Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
had never answered her request for a meeting.[
Silou-Kieffer indicated she had asked Sarkozy to pressure Ivorian president to allow French judges to interrogate Ivorian suspects in the case.][
In July 2008 ]Simone Gbagbo
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo (born 20 June 1949), National Assembly website (2007 archive page) . is an Ivorian politician. She is the president of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a vice-president of the FPI. As the wi ...
– First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire – was formally called for questioning by a French investigative judge, examining the April 2004 disappearance and presumed death of Kieffer. Speculation has surrounded the Ivorian first family, as Michel Legré is the brother-in-law of Simone Gbagbo. French judicial officials have arrested and are investigating Jean-Tony Oulaï, a former member of the Ivorian Secret Services, whom they detained in Paris in 2006. Jean-Tony Oulaï's driver at the time Berte Seydou, as well as Mr Kieffer's brother, have alleged that Ms. Gbagbo and former Ivorian Minister of Planning and Development Paul-Antoine Bohoun Bouabré Paul-Antoine is a French masculine given name. It may refer to:
* Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivity of Haiti
* Paul Antoine Dubois (1795-1871), French obstetrician
* Paul-Antoine Giguère (1910–1987) ...
have knowledge of the events surrounding Mr Kieffer's death, and that Oulaï is responsible.Sur la piste des ravisseurs
- 3 septembre 2006 - par CHRISTOPHE BOISBOUVIER, Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
L'homme qui en savait trop
24 octobre 2004 - par CHRISTOPHE BOISBOUVIER, Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
Simone Gbagbo
26 décembre 2004 - par CHEIKH YÉRIM SECK, Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
Incontrôlable affaire Kieffer
27 juin 2004 - par CHRISTOPHE BOISBOUVIER, Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...
Ivory Coast first lady to be questioned over missing Canadian journalist
Matthieu Rabechault, AFP, July 8, 2008.
See also
*List of people who disappeared
{{Short description, Lists of people of unknown locations and statusLists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated:
Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ' ...
References
External links
Vérité pour Guy-André Kieffer
(in French), site profiling Kieffer's case
Kieffer’s case
(in French), o
Ménilmontant, mais oui madame...
This blog is written by a former French journalist who used to work with Kieffer in the 1980s about French files on finance and political fields, with links with fiscal paradises. Blog only in French.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kieffer, Guy Andre
Journalists from Quebec
Canadian male journalists
Assassinated French journalists
2004 in Ivory Coast
1949 births
2000s missing person cases
French male journalists
Writers from Montreal
20th-century French journalists
20th-century Canadian journalists
21st-century French journalists
21st-century Canadian journalists
Possibly living people
Cocoa production
People assassinated in the 21st century