An experienced mountaineer from France is abducted in an Algerian national park and an international incident ensues. World leaders hunt down a group of suspected killers, only to find that many of them have gone underground and continue to evade justice to this day. View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-mountaineerPark Predators is an audiochuck production. Connect with us on social media:Instagram: @parkpredators | @audiochuckTwitter: @ParkPredators | @audiochuckFacebook: /ParkPredators | /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck
Chapter 1: What is the main case discussed in this episode?
Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today takes place in Jojura National Park in North Algeria, an area of the world that is blanketed in large part by the Sahara Desert, with just a small section of green mountains near the northern coast.
Chapter 2: What historical context is provided about Jojura National Park?
The national park was initially established in 1925 when Algeria was governed by France, a time of profound change and tension for the country. But when it gained its independence in 1962, the park eventually earned its status as a national park of Algeria. Though it wasn't all celebrations for residents with deep roots reaching back centuries.
In the 1930s, even after the park was established, France continued to claim ownership of native people's land. And when the new Algerian state was created in the 60s, that land just went right back to the new government, not back to the native people. Unrest and conflict for years destroyed parts of the park, but it was officially rehabilitated in 1983.
One look at a picture of it now, and you'll see that it's home to some breathtaking landscapes. You can see spectacular views of mountains as high as over 7,500 feet. There are also a lot of juniper, pine, and cedar forests in the park, as well as steep gorges and unique cliff faces that were formed by glaciers.
But what can happen in a beautiful place like this, as the nation's Malika Rahel described as, quote, the fight between terrorism and tourism is something a group of outdoorsmen in September 2014 had to discover for themselves in the worst possible way. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to cover this case.
In addition to using this platform to feature cases from countries outside of North America, today's story is one that's hard for any park enthusiast to imagine, let alone believe could happen. I want to say up front that there are many names in this story that were not in my native tongue, English.
I tried my very best to pronounce all of them correctly, but if I didn't nail them perfectly, just keep that in mind. Just like me, you'll probably have a visceral reaction too when you learn of what transpired when an experienced mountaineer crossed paths with terrorist fighters.
so so
On Sunday night, September 21st, 2014, 55-year-old Hervé Gordel and five other companions were traveling through a stretch of mountains in Jorjura National Park when they came up to a group of men blocking the road. Hervé and his companions weren't very far from the next village, so I imagine seeing signs of human activity was to be expected.
However, something about the group of guys stopping cars felt off. When it was Hervé's group's turn to speak with the mysterious figures gathered by the roadway, things turned south quickly.
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Chapter 3: Who was Hervé Gordel and what was his adventure?
According to reporting by Al Jazeera, the Algerian natives who'd been accompanying Herve were held captive by their abductors for 14 hours, but then abruptly released. The guides, who were, I imagine, confused by what was happening, tried to take Herve with them, but their captors refused to let him go. The group's reason for setting the others free and only keeping Herve was simple.
The locals were not their enemy. He was. According to an article by BBC News, Hervé had been to Algeria a handful of times before this incident. However, he'd not specifically explored the national park. So I think it's safe to assume he was relying on the Algerian guides who were with him to show him the ropes.
Ann Colini reported for The Independent that the purpose of the trip in September 2014 was to scout out some climbing spots and hopefully find a new way to cross through the national park's mountain range. From what I gathered reading the source material, setting off to discover a new route through a mountain range he'd never climbed before was totally something Hervé would be down for.
His friend said he was kind of obsessed with mountain ranges and usually traveled into remote places that most people wouldn't go to. However, he was smart about it and always exercised caution. Along with his wits, he usually brought a camera with him. One of his great loves, aside from nature, was photography, particularly landscape photography.
According to an article by Al Jazeera, he'd arrived in Algeria from France on Saturday, September 20th, about a week after celebrating his 55th birthday. The plan from the start was for him and his Algerian companions to hike together for 10 days while exploring different caves in the national park. They packed enough supplies to stop and camp overnight along the way.
And this adventure was nothing out of the ordinary for him. He was from a suburb of Nice, France, and worked mostly as a guide in France's Mercantour National Park, which was conveniently close to his house.
That article from The Independent I mentioned earlier reported that in 1987, he and some of his mountaineering friends had opened a guide business not far from his hometown, and they ran it out of a little shop on an unassuming street corner. Together with his partner, Francoise Grand-Claude, he had a son and a daughter.
In addition to having led many trips in and out of the French Alps in his career, he'd also spent two decades traveling the world looking for other mountain ranges to climb. In countries like Vietnam, Nepal, Jordan, and Morocco, he trained other hiking guides on how to lead expeditions and survive in harsh environments.
From everything I've read about Hervé, it seems that his life was one of absolute adventure. As a young kid, his dad had taken him on expeditions in the outdoors, and that really fostered his love for nature. He once said he felt lucky to have a job that let him work in nature and, quote, earn a living away from the offices, end quote.
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Chapter 4: What led to Hervé's kidnapping?
According to reporting by BBC News, after Hervé's captors realized that French officials weren't going to stop bombing Islamic State strongholds in Iraq, they made good on their previous threat. They executed him and videotaped his death for the world to see.
I don't want to go into specific details of what the video actually depicts because I don't want people who knew and loved Hervé to have to relive that moment. But all you need to know is that he was murdered in a way that I and many of the news agencies who reported on this story consider to be inhumane.
Before executing him, his captors allowed him to speak for a few short moments to tell his family how much he loved them. When word of his murder made it to France's president, he publicly denounced the killing and said, quote, Our compatriot has been murdered cruelly in an uncowardly way by a terrorist group. Hervé Gordel was killed because he was French.
My determination is total, and this aggression only strengthens it. France will continue to fight terrorists everywhere. The operations against Islamic State will continue. The military strikes will continue as long as necessary. End quote.
He went on to express that the incident saddened everyone in France and was something other world nations should pay attention to because it showcased the real threat IS terrorist groups posed to the world stage.
Barack Obama, who was the President of the United States at the time, expressed shared sadness over the killing and promised France's President and the people of France that America would continue to stand alongside France in the fight against terrorism.
BBC News reported that even though this was the first time a French national had actually been kidnapped and killed as a political prisoner, it was not the first time a person from the Western world had been abducted and murdered by suspected jihadist fighters connected to ISIS. In August of 2014, American journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff were executed.
Their deaths were also filmed and later posted online. Another case was that of British humanitarian worker David Haynes, who'd been kidnapped and killed by a terrorist group in 2014. In response to executions like this, and specifically Hervé's murder, the mayor of Nice, France, told BBC News, quote, Today a war was declared on France.
We've been turning a blind eye to what's been happening in our backyards, and this is where it has led us, end quote. News of Hervé's kidnapping and murder had a significant impact on Algeria's citizens, too.
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Chapter 5: What were the immediate reactions of the French government?
Unfortunately, in all that time, Algerian authorities had only managed to capture and arrest one of those 14 people. And just to clarify here, because I know it might be confusing, but based on what I read in the source material, the leader of the group behind the murder was on the list of the original 15 suspects that authorities claimed were to blame.
But since he'd been killed back in December 2014, he couldn't be tried. So that left 14 suspects remaining. It was also reported that between 2014 and 2021, another seven suspects had been killed by the Algerian army.
And I don't know if that number included the leader of the group or not, but if we're to assume he was, then that would put the total headcount of people who were physically unable to be prosecuted for the crime in 2021 somewhere at around seven or eight, depending on whether you were looking at the original 15 names or just the 14 names that authorities were taking to court in 2021.
I know, it's all a bit confusing. But what is clear, though, is that by February 2021, one named suspect was in custody facing charges of kidnapping, torture, premeditated murder, and joining an armed terrorist group. The source material states that defendant's name was Abdelmalek Amzawi.
There were also another seven defendants who were going to be tried in what's called absentia, meaning they couldn't be found or had escaped arrest. Anyone else on the known suspect list, well, the source material isn't really clear about what was gonna happen to them.
That article I mentioned earlier by the International Business Times stated that specific charges against the rest of the perpetrators were unknown at the time.
What I can tell you, though, is that when all this news about charges and upcoming trials was coming out, each of the Algerian hiking guides who'd been with Herve when he was kidnapped had also been slapped with criminal charges for allegedly failing to notify law enforcement sooner that he'd been abducted.
According to the source material I read, these guys had all been accused of waiting too long to tell police that Herve had been taken, but nothing spells out how the authorities determined this was true.
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Chapter 6: How did the situation escalate leading to Hervé's execution?
One thing the guides were guilty of, though, was failing to disclose that they'd been hosting a foreign national on their trip, which is what Herve, a Frenchman, was as far as the country of Algeria was concerned. There, if you're a local hiking guide, you have to let the government know things like that before you just take off into the mountains.
Because of these purported issues with what the hiking guides did or didn't do, Algerian prosecutors believe that Herve's killers had been able to make their way out of the national park undetected. Like it or not, the Algerian guides were each facing up to five years in jail if convicted. One of the men's attorneys argued, though, that they weren't to blame for what had happened.
The lawyer emphasized that very little time had passed between when the guides themselves were finally released after 14 hours in captivity and when they contacted the police. Hervé's family's response to these revelations and finally seeing some movement in the case was what you'd expect. Françoise, his partner, told news outlets that a trial would bring them all a lot of hope.
They'd waited a long time to have their day in an Algerian courtroom. But unfortunately, they'd have to wait just a bit longer. France 24 reported that right as the trial was about to get underway in early February, the main suspect who Algerian authorities had in custody underwent hip surgery.
The judge in the case ruled that because of the defendant's health issues, the trial had to be delayed a few weeks. Francoise told AFP News that the delay was disappointing because they'd already waited so long to see justice served, but she still had faith that things would work out.
She told the news outlet, quote, we put a lot of hope in the Algerian justice system and that justice will be rendered after seven years of a very, very long wait, end quote. Once proceedings picked back up again on February 18th, 2021, it only took one day for the court in Algeria to convict the lone defendant who was physically present to stand trial.
BBC News reported that he was sentenced to death, but that punishment didn't really mean a whole lot because Algeria had a longstanding moratorium in place forbidding executions. When that defendant spoke in court, he denied involvement in the crime and said that he'd only been found guilty to, quote, close the case and please the French, end quote.
The Algerian hiking guides who were facing those charges for reporting Herve's kidnapping too late were acquitted of any crimes. As I wrap up this episode, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed with how things played out, at least as far as what happened in court. It's almost like so much has been left unanswered, but that's how cases like this go sometimes.
There isn't always a nice bow to tie things up at the end. What I keep coming back to is just how tragic this case is. I mean, the victim was a highly skilled mountaineer who likely encountered a lot of sketchy and dangerous situations in his career.
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Chapter 7: What was the public response to Hervé's murder?
As of the time of this recording, the United States has a travel advisory in effect suggesting increased caution when traveling to Algeria due to terrorism and kidnapping.
It's heartbreaking that a place with such a rich cultural history and landscape is rife with acts like this that, as Malika Rahel for The Nation writes, "...are meant to destroy, once again, dreams of a peaceful collective life." Like me and countless other tourists seeking adventure, Hervé represents the wanderer in so many of us.
For his sake and the sake of his family, I hope he died knowing his story will live on in the legacy he leaves behind. I hope, somehow, he can know the beloved figure he's become to his family, the citizens of France, and all outdoor enthusiasts across the globe. Park Predators is an AudioChuck production.
You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, at Park Predators. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?