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There is a growing public outcry that the former Russian Interior Ministry official, Alexander Prokopchuk, will be elected president of Interpol, an international organization that facilitates cross-border co-operation between repressive services.
Critics say that the appointment of a Russian head of the organization would give Moscow an easy way to target its political opponents with the help of international institutions. On Monday, a bipartisan group of senators, including Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), called on the Trump administration and the Interpol general assembly to sit down. oppose the candidacy of Prokopchuk. On Tuesday, the Lithuanian Parliament voted unanimously in favor of withdrawing from the international organization if Prokopchuk was elected to the post.
Experts believe that it is particularly inadvisable to grant a Russian official privileged access to information allowing Moscow to target political opponents and to violate human rights.
"Putting a Russian police general to Interpol, it's like putting a fox at the head of the henhouse," said Ariel Cohen, senior official of the Washington-based Atlantic Council in Washington. Newsweek. "Russia has turned information and energy into weapons, and now wields Interpol red notices to deal with opponents. Give Russia the least possible access to what Interpol knows about organized crime in the interior of the country and its relations abroad is discouraged ".
Bill Browder, an American financier who is an important critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has already been targeted by Interpol's Red Notices seven times. In each of these cases, foreign governments chose to release him after concluding that Moscow was using red notices to target a political opponent. On Monday, Browder said Newsweek to allow a Russian to take control of Interpol is like "the mafia that supports law enforcement in the world".
Experts also believe that Russia and other authoritarian states are increasingly using international institutions to attack their enemies, which will only get worse if a Russian is put at the helm of Interpol.
"In recent years, we have seen a proliferation, but largely, of secret attempts by authoritarian states to exploit multilateral institutions and democratic systems. Russia's candidacy for the Interpol presidency is perhaps the most daring example of the efforts of an autocratic regime to co-opt an international agency based on the rule of law, "said Jonathan Reich , lawyer representing Russian businessmen and anti – corruption dissidents. were targeted via Interpol, stated Newsweek.
"If Russia has been severely criticized for its abuse of Red Notices and Interpol broadcasts, it occupies a coveted seat within the Interpol Committee on File Control to review appeals." even victims of such abuses, "continued Reich. "If Russia successfully assumes the presidency of Interpol, it will have an effective monopoly on the mission, strategy, implementation and appeal process of this institution."
At a press conference in London on Tuesday, Browder said he hoped the US would not support Prokopchuk's appointment. But Washington's opposition may not be enough to block Russia's candidacy.
"From what I understand, the US government and the other governments of Europe give full support to the appointment of this individual from Russia. If I understand the problem correctly, it means that each country has one vote and that vote is the same. The US vote is equal to that of Tajikistan and the Interpol has 192 members, "said Browder Newsweek Tuesday.
"I imagine that the lobbying that Russia is doing is similar to the lobbying that it led when they created illegitimate victories by getting the FIFA World Cup in Moscow through FIFA, through through cheating at the International Olympic Committee Russia loves these international organizations where they can cheat behind the scenes, I can not imagine it would be different, "Browder continued.
On Tuesday, Kremlin officials criticized US senators for their "interference" in the Interpol election process. State Department officials also pointed out that there is more than one candidate for the position and that the United States would support any candidate who would best protect the rule of law.
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