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Interpol Elects South Korea’s Kim Jong Yang as President; Russia Accused of Abusing Agency in Bid for Power

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Interpol’s general assembly voted Wednesday to make South Korea’s Kim Jong Yang its new president.

Kim had been serving as the organization’s acting president and will serve the final two years of the term of the man he replaced — China’s Meng Hongwei, who disappeared while visiting his native country in late September and was later said to be detained on bribery allegations. The general assembly will vote again for the person who will serve the next four-year term.

“Our world is now facing unprecedented changes which present huge challenges to public security and safety,” Interpol quoted Kim as saying. “To overcome them, we need a clear vision: We need to build a bridge to the future.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a tweet, congratulated Kim, calling him “the right man to lead one of the world’s most critical law enforcement bodies.”

The result of Wednesday’s election was to some degree a surprise after many considered Russia’s Alexander Prokopchuk, one of Interpol’s vice presidents, as the front-runner in the race.

Prokopchuk, who heads Russia’s national Interpol Bureau, was widely seen as the favorite to be elected president of the organization. Critics say in recent years Russia has abused Interpol’s so-called “red notice” system of international arrest warrants to pursue its political enemies.

Among those targeted have been Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman, and financier Bill Browder, the subject of six red notice requests by Russia, all of them thrown out by Interpol. The two men held a news conference Tuesday in London to highlight their concerns.

Kremlin critics said putting Prokopchuk in charge of Interpol would politicize the organization. A group of four senators accused him of being “personally involved” in what they call Russia’s routine “abuses of Interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents, dissidents, and journalists.”

The Kremlin said Wednesday’s vote took place in “an environment of unprecedented pressure,” but that there was no reason not to accept the results. (VOA News)

 

 

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