TP / CTRANTIEN NATHALIE YAMB Final version

TC 00’08

Nathalie Yamb is a discreet but very powerful woman.

In her city of Zug, one might think that she is a perfect anonymous.

But make no mistake: on social media, he's a real star.

A few dance steps, a sparkling smile and a smartphone still in hand, at 53 years old, the Swiss influencer is panicking the counters, with more than a million subscribers.

But behind these smiling photos, perhaps hides a much darker side...

Since the war in Ukraine, his positions have raised questions.

The United States accuses him of links to Russia and the Wagner paramilitary group, and the France has even banned him from entering the country.

Who is really behind the so-called "Lady of Sochi"?  We conducted the investigation...

 

TC 01'02 TITLE

 

TC 01’22

It took time to convince her, but she finally agreed to receive us in Zug to tell us her side of the story.

 

TC 01'30 Nathalie Yamb "Hello, my name is Nathalie Yamb and I am happy to see you again for this first video of the year 2023"

 

TC 01’40

Nathalie Yamb was born in 1969 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. On social networks, she gives herself a photo. We discover his parents, Swiss and Cameroonian, their marriage, and his childhood in a working-class building on Rue Blaise Cendrars. 

 

TC 01'56 Nathalie Yamb "We didn't often see blacks in Switzerland at that time. I was often told I was dirty. And I remember my mother telling me one day that I came home being, scratching. I tried to get white by scratching because I was told I was dirty and I was the only one who was different from the others. La Chaux de Fond is not one. It's not a big city, it's a little bled."

 

TC 02’18

It is this difference that has forged his character.

At the age of 8, his family left La Chaux de Fonds to settle in Cameroon.

One foot on each continent, she studied journalism and decided to campaign for the emancipation of Africa.

 

TC 02'33 "Give peace to African countries! We do not want your pseudo generosity, nor your military, monetary, economic, diplomatic, and humanitarian presence here. Go love someone else! »

TC 02'51 "You will search the history books that are taught in schools in France, you will find no trace of the barbarity with which the French colonists burned, killed, slit the throats of the populations and Cameroonian separatists"

 

TC 03’08

Shocking phrases, which seduce more than a million subscribers around the world, including this Lausanne, known under the pseudonym of Aganisha.

For her, Nathalie Yamb is a role model, a woman whose discourse can change Africa.

 

TC 03'28 Taanum Leele "We've been waiting for a voice like this for a long time! She says what we all think. She uses the right words. And that speaks to people a lot and that's very important. And that's what I think makes it a hit or at least it's relevant and it speaks to everyone. And Nathalie Yamb makes popular Pan-Africanism "

 

TC 03’51

Pan-Africanism is the heart of Nathalie Yamb's struggle. This movement aims at the sovereignty and unity of the African continent. France Leave, the demand of the Pan-Africans is clear, and wherever the France retreats, pro-Russian sentiment is gaining ground.  Africa has become the target of a war of influence and this is happening via social networks. The paramilitary group Wagner, the armed wing of Russia, relies on pan-African accounts to broadcast this kind of small videos on a loop...

 

TC 04'24 VIDEO EXCERPT

- We are Macron's demons. Now this is our country!

- Do you need reinforcements my friend?

-Good job! You have been brought even more weapons.

Thank you, friends.

- Happy to help my friend

 

TC 04’44

You will understand: Russians and Pan-Africans have a common enemy: the West.

By supporting the revolts, Putin hopes to gain new allies at the UN.

It is in this context that Nathalie Yamb will be noticed. At the Sochi summit in 2019, she gave a speech that went viral, earning her the nickname "The Lady of Sochi".

 

TC 05'06 "But we do not come to Russia to look for ourselves master who will be substituted for the elders, we come there to find partners to make win-win business for Russia as for the African countries concerned"

 

TC 05'20 Egerie of the Pan-Africans, Nathalie Yamb has a particularly interesting profile for Putin's men.

But was she recruited and paid to spread these kinds of pro-Russian messages? Not so simple...

To continue this investigation, it is necessary to go to Cameroon.

This is where the Pan-Africans Awards take place, a kind of political Oscars.

This year, the star is Nathalie Yamb. As soon as he arrives, it's a whirlwind of photos and admirers...

 

TC 05'56 "Quit, leave! Girls first, those who know they are tall: behind! The ones who know they are small with me! »

 

Everyone wants to immortalize the moment with the one they nickname "Tata Yamb".

 

TC 06'09 "From social networks to reality! Finally! Thank you for everything you do for us! »

 

TC 06’16

Paul Ella is the organizer of the event. For him, the Swiss is the personality in sight of the moment.

 

TC 06'21 PAUL ELLA "Nathalie Yamb, unquestionably, she is an icon of Pan-Africanism. Inviting him is quite a symbol, because he is someone who has taken his pilgrim's staff to, against all odds, denounce the injustices that have been facing Africa for far too long. And precisely, the objective of Nathalie Yamb's work is to make Africans aware of what they are and to stop being told, to let themselves be read in the eyes of others. »

 

TC 06’52

On stage, she fires red balls against the France, calls for a boycott of Western media and the overthrow of regimes supported by Paris.

Here, no Russian flag but the shadow of the Kremlin never seems far away.

 

TC 07'08 "I think many in the room have heard that I am the influencer in the pay of Putin, the influencer in the pay of Russia"

 

TC 07’17

This label of pro-Putin influencer annoys her to the highest point...

 

TC 07'22 Nathalie Yamb "This implies that Africans are incapable of fighting for their own interests, of thinking by and for themselves, that we are people who have the vocation to be either someone's puppet or someone else's puppet. So I find it denigrating, racist, contemptuous! »

 

TC 07’41

The controversy was quickly swept aside.

Nathalie Yamb prefers to take us for a ride in a completely different setting. We find her in the middle of a fitting session, before her big awards ceremony.

 

TC 08'05 "It's sparkling! My last name is Yamb it means bee and as the bees are in black and yellow, I will be in the bee uniform tonight."

 

TC 08’18

A few hours later, she made a remarkable entrance.

As a sign of its influence, it is installed in the front row, alongside VIPs and ministers.

And when it comes his turn to go on stage to receive his award, listen carefully, it's again with a reference to Russia...

 

TC 08'35 "who stands in front, who talks to Putin, who talks to everyone! Nathalie... Nathalie... Nathalie Yamb! »

 

TC 08’53

To understand the star of the Pan-Africans, you have to be interested in his entourage. On the networks, Nathalie Yamb regularly appears with another influencer, Kemi Seba, whom she presents as her blood brother.

But as you will see, this proximity worries at the highest level.

We are in Washington.

Here, Nathalie Yamb and Kémi Seba are not strangers, far from it...

 

TC 09’22

At the end of 2022, the State Department, the equivalent of our Foreign Affairs, published this statement entitled "Disinformation Campaign in Africa".

Nathalie Yamb and Kemi Seba are presented as "essential links in Yevgeny Prigozhin's network".

 

TC 09’40

A serious accusation because Prigozhine is the founder of the Wagner group, a group classified as a criminal organization by the United States.

For this French researcher, a specialist in Russian influence, Wagner directly pilots some pan-Africans.

 

TC 09'58 Maxime Audinet "For example, Wagner will finance radio stations or bribe journalists to broadcast content that will be either favorable to Russia or very critical of this French presence. And that, from this point of view, we can see that we have links that are woven between structures linked to the Prigogine galaxy and Wagner and African personalities who claim to be Pan-African. This is the case, for example, of Nathalie Yamb or Kémi Seba who are the best known."

 

At the end of 2020, on this television set, Kemi Seba even openly boasted of having met him.

TC 10'32 "Yevgeny Prigozhin will finance all the movements opposed to the Western oligarchy, he will finance them in South America, he will finance them in the Middle East, he will go to Africa and I who is talking to you I had the opportunity to meet Evegeny Prigozhin, I was invited to his home. I specify it is one of the men considered the most dangerous on the planet. So we, whenever we are with people who can oppose the French oligarchy and the Western oligarchy, we take this ad hoc alliance and we move forward. We are in a serious fight"

 

TC 11’02

Since then, Kemi Seba has distanced herself from Prigozhine, and Nathalie Yamb strongly denies any involvement.

 

TC 11'09 Journalist: "When the US State Department's statement writes to him that you are, I quote you, I quote the communiqué, an essential link in Yevgeny Prigogine's network, that you are a very prolific peddler of disinformation. Those were extremely serious accusations against you. They don't say that lightly? »

TC 11'25 Nathalie Yamb "Well they say that, I would say lightly because when I read the State Department note, I see a repetition of everything that the French media throw without ever providing a shadow of proof of anything. I would like to be proven that I know Yevgeny Prigogine. »

 

TC 11’49

Does this evidence exist? Silence on the American side...

But by searching the internet, we discover a series of intriguing photos.

We see Nathalie Yamb, all smiles, posing at two conferences, in Russia and Berlin.

Conferences organized by AFRIC, an association under sanction. 

Thanks to facial recognition software, we identify participants. On the right, Alexander Malkevich, a sanctioned Russian, expelled from the United States for attempting to interfere in the 2016 elections, and on the left: Yulia Berg, a former Prigozhin employee, also under sanction.

 

TC 12’25

Two well-known names of this former Russian television journalist, now a refugee in Lausanne.

 

TC 12'30 Dmitry Skorobutov "They are two very important figures in the hierarchy of the Prigogina system. Malkevich is responsible for all media activities. It was exactly intended to influence public opinion abroad. Her assistant, Mrs. Berg or Afanasieva, is also known as a public relations specialist. She has a degree in applied policy. So here are two characters who are perhaps main in the field of soft power exercised by Prigogine. They use this label of Africa. But there is nothing to do with Africa, there are only experts or specialists in quotation marks, or politicians paid by the Kremlin to make propaganda for the Kremlin, for Putin, for his entourage. They are looking for people who have influence in Africa, including Ms. Nathalie Yamb, people who can first be manipulated, controlled and, dare I say, paid. »

Journalist: But for Nathalie Yamb, how can we be sure of this funding? Dmitry Skorobutov
 "But you think she participates in events arranged by Russia, by the Kremlin? By her will, it means she is voluntary... volunteer? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. »

 

TC 13’59

In London, on the banks of the Thames, our investigation is accelerating...

We have an appointment with this woman, whom we will call Maria.

She is Russian and asks us to protect her identity, because attacking the Kremlin and Wagner's men is very risky.

 

TC 14’23 Maria “I'm one of the researchers and investigators at the Dossier Center Investigative Project. Our focus is on investigating the crimes done by the Kremlin circles”

 

TC 14’37

Maria sends us internal documents of the Wagner Group, obtained through a data leak.

We first discover Nathalie Yamb's Cameroonian passport, as well as letters of invitation as an "expert" for the AFRIC association.

And a little further, this extremely interesting document.

We can read that AFRIC is a soft power tool. 

Experts are paid to publish news and promote the Russian agenda.

One sentence particularly catches our attention: "funding comes in the form of anonymous donations in cryptocurrency".

It is therefore impossible to find any financial evidence, but these clues are important.

 

TC 15’18 Maria “Natalie Yamb is part, used to be at least, part of the AFRIC Structure and AFRIC is under sanctions. I mean, when we're talking about red flags, these are all important flags that once you decide whether you want to participate as an expert in this conference, this should be extremely important because that's your reputation and you should care about this reputation. This applies to Natalie Yamb ».

 

TC 15'44 Interviewer: Did you receive any money from AFRIC? 

Nathalie Yamb "I have never been financed by AFRIC, Wagner or Mr. Putin. Now I read everywhere that I am funded, I always repeat it and I make an appeal here. / If there is an account somewhere with hundreds of millions of I don't know what else, rubles, zlotys, euros or CFA, whatever it is, I take. Now if Mr. Prigogine, hearing this interview, thinks that he must finance me today I repeat the bank account. Honestly, I would take the money wherever it comes from. I have no qualms. I have more trouble with the French army today than with Wagner."

 

TC 16’30

These remarks, deliberately provocative, have difficulty passing in Paris.

Contacted, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that it has twice requested the temporary suspension of Nathalie Yamb's Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Even worse, she became inadmissible in France.

General Pascal Ianni is one of the instigators of this measure. For him, the decision was inevitable. 

 

TC 17'00 Pascal Ianni "It was felt that the presence of this person on French territory was no longer so logical since he was calling for violence. She was critical of the France and therefore there was no reason for her to come to French territory. »

 

TC 17’09

But Nathalie Yamb does not tremble for a moment, when we submit to her the French document, which she claims never to have received.

 

TC 17'17 Nathalie Yamb "I find it hard to believe that this is an official document. It's filled with gossip. »

Interviewer: So it's all wrong in there?              

Nathalie Yamb "Uh I don't see anything in there uh... I see that I condone and encourage the use of violence against the symbols of the French presence in Africa. This is not true that I have never called for violence against anyone. / if it is to say that I send people to break embassies, to kill French people, it is completely above ground"

Interviewer: Did you rejoice at the death of French soldiers?
Nathalie Yamb "I don't mourn the death of French soldiers. I consider that the French army in Africa is an army of occupation. Through that prism, I consider them to be our adversaries. And I will never cry for the death of a French soldier. »

 

Despite the sanctions, she flirts unapologetically with the limits...

 

TC 18'23 YOUTUBE EXCERPTS "Every French soldier who falls in Africa is an enemy who falls" "Take your tickets and tear them up" "The French through their terrorist auxiliaries that they have installed, trained, financed, equipped"

But for the army, freedom of expression does not allow everything...

 

TC 18'47 General Pascal Ianni "What interests us in a person like Nathalie Yamb or other people for that matter is what she conveys as false information, the way she distorts information and tries to stir up anti-French sentiment or provoke demonstrations against the French presence. You can't let just anything be said on social media or anywhere else. The truth must be told. And from the moment these manipulations of information result in physical threats, we cannot let it happen, we must intervene. »

 

TC 19'15 Journalist "Do you have proof that Nathalie Yamb is directly linked and financed to the Wagner group?  »              

General Pascal Ianni "No, no, I have no proof of a direct link, but I find that the language elements are often very similar to what can be found on other accounts or on the official positions of Russia."

 

TC 19’36

From her home in Zug, the Swiss activist seems untouchable, and continues to sow discord. But for how much longer?

September 2022, the first warning shot, his bank cuts its accounts.

And when she asks the Confederation for her own information sheet, this is what she receives, a hundred censored pages.

 

TC 19'58 Nathalie Yamb "It's black... And it's not even that black because there are even blackest ones, there are two pages completely blurred, we do not know why. They wanted to finish the black ink of the ministry."

 

TC 20’14

Is it perceived as a threat by the Confederation?

Neither the Intelligence Service nor the federal police wished to comment.

But one thing is certain, his pro-Russian speech and tweets like this one does not only attract friends...

 

TC 20'33 Nathalie Yamb "I receive very concrete death threats. I receive pictures of myself taken in the city of Zug to let me know where I live. So I know in a factual way that I am being followed and that it is not with good intentions since the letters say that it is about killing me, killing my son, attacking my family. »

 

TC 20'54 VOICE-OVER  "Stop your attacks otherwise we will kill you" / "This woman is instrumentalized by Moscow" "She lives in your building she puts you in danger, let's mobilize so that she leaves the city"

 

TC 21'05 Journalist "Who do you think is behind these threats?"

TC 21'10 Nathalie Yamb "Oh, it's not much suspense on that. It is the French services and they do not hide it. Besides, really, they threaten me on social networks. It's obvious that it comes from their side. »

 

TC 21’26

Nathalie Yamb has filed a complaint, the police investigation is ongoing.

The Lady of Sochi has not finished, to spill ink ...

 

TC 21'35 Nathalie Yamb "Only death will stop me. Whether she is natural or violent, only she will stop me... »

 

TC 21'46 End credits