MOSCOW: A growing chorus of critics is calling on Interpol to reject a Russian candidate to lead the organisation, over fears Moscow could abuse the presidency to target political opponents. The Kremlin has denounced what is says is “interference” in the vote, set for Wednesday at the close of Interpol’s annual conference in Dubai. Concerns have been raised over Russia’s previous applications for Interpol “Red Notices”, or international arrest warrants, for those who have fallen foul of the Kremlin.
Russian interior ministry official and current Interpol vice-president Alexander Prokopchuk appears to be the favourite for the position.
In an open letter this week, a bipartisan group of US senators said that choosing Prokopchuk would be like “putting a fox in charge of a henhouse”.
“Russia routinely abuses Interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents, dissidents and journalists,” they wrote.
The senators said Prokopchuk has been “personally involved” in this strategy since being elected to Interpol’s executive committee.
Delegates from Interpol member countries will elect a new president to replace Meng Hongwei, who went missing in his native China in September.
Beijing later informed Interpol that Meng had resigned after being charged with accepting bribes.
The other candidate running is South Korea’s Kim Jong-Yang, the acting president, and whoever is elected will serve out Meng’s term until 2020.
Anti-Kremlin figures have raised concerns ahead of the vote, including Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who has been repeatedly jailed by authorities.
“Our team has suffered from abuse of Interpol for political persecution by Russia,” Navalny wrote on Twitter. “I don’t think that a president from Russia will help to reduce such violations.”
The controversy also comes amid security concerns over accusations of Russian agents carrying out a spy poisoning in Britain and attempting to hack the network of the global chemical weapons watchdog.
Former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul said the candidacy was “worrying for anyone who believes in the rule of law”.
Ukraine, deeply at odds with Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and support for eastern separatists, threatened to pull out of Interpol if Prokopchuk prevailed. The Kremlin dismissed the US senators’ letter as a “vivid example” of an attempt to interfere in election processes. “This is interference... in the election to an international organisation,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. — AFP
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