Browder warns against making Russian police official chief of Interpol
260 views · Published 25 November 2018 · 3:30 · Indexed 13 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(20 Nov 2018) A financier and Kremlin critic warned on Tuesday that naming a top Russian police official president of Interpol would undermine the international law enforcement agency. Bill Browder, who runs an investment fund that had once operated in Moscow, said President Vladimir Putin has tried to use Interpol to hunt down his critics and electing a Russian to lead the agency could intensify such efforts. The London-based businessman has campaigned for sanctions against Russian officials charged with human rights abuses after his former lawyer died in custody. Interpol's general assembly that's meeting in Dubai is expected to elect its new president on Wednesday. Alexander Prokopchuk, a general in the Russian Interior Ministry who is currently a vice president of Interpol, is the front-runner to become its next president. Speaking at a news conference alongside Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oligarch who had been jailed in Russia, and British lawyer Ben Emerson, Browder said having a Russian presiding over Interpol would be tantamount to "putting the mafia in charge". Browder also told journalists in London that having a Russian at the helm of Interpol would put him at greater personal risk of having a 'red notice' put on him which – he says - carries a risk that he could eventually be sent back to Russia and killed. Critics have long accused powerful governments of trying to use Interpol to pursue their political enemies. Russia denies accusations of foreign interference, and announced new charges against Browder this week in a long-running legal battle against him. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c262682091d4dbb5bb5574fbf5d64a48
