Russia has been using Interpol to focus on those that speak out against Vladimir Putin and the federal government abroad, newly leaked files have revealed.
The BBC has reported that Russia is weaponising Interpol’s wanted lists to arrest political opponents, businessmen and journalists who they are saying have committed ‘crimes’.
Interpol said it’s aware of the impact arrest requests can have on individuals, and that it has overturned many requests for red notices -a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate an individual – from Moscow because of fears of targeting.
Russian expert Keir Giles, from Chatham House, told Metro the leak from Interpol shows a ‘classic example’ of how malign actors can exploit systems based on trust.
‘The way in which through which Russia can use these systems to focus on its critics abroad highlights the issues that open societies face in withstanding the type of pernicious threat that Russia presents,’ he said.
‘If a tool is accessible for Russia to make use of to focus on those it wishes to silence or punish, they’ll use it.’
Russia’s influence stretches into the West
Giles said it’s not a surprise that Western police forces see Interpol requests as legitimate – he says it’s because many haven’t realised that bad actors can use the Interpol system for malign reasons.
But for others, the fear of being targeted by Russia even while within the West is tangible.
Sir Bill Browder, a former investor in Russia, who has since was certainly one of the Kremlin’s fiercest critics, was arrested by Interpol in 2018 while travelling in Spain – on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
He told Metro: ‘Ever because the Magnitsky Act was passed in 2012, Putin has been chasing me all over the world attempting to have me arrested and brought back to Russia so I will be tortured in prison and killed.’
The Magnitsky Act, named after Bill’s former lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who was murdered by Kremlin operatives while uncovering fraud within the Russian government, works to sanction corrupt officials who commit human rights abuses.
Bill, who spearheaded the campaign for his late lawyer, is needed by the Kremlin because he helped uncover massive Russian corruption.
The Kremlin claims his charges are ‘tax evasion’ – however the true goal is because Bill has continued to fight against the Kremlin’s corruption and murder of his lawyer, Magnitsky.
Sir Bill’s first Interpol notice was issued in May 2013, months after he was capable of get the Magnitsky Act passed.
Despite Interpol rejecting the notice, the Russians kept reapplying until he was eventually detained in Madrid and Geneva in 2018.
‘If Russia is so able to abuse Interpol, there must be some variety of restrictions, constraints, or sanctions imposed on them so that they don’t do it anymore,’ he told Metro.
‘They proceed to be probably the most energetic abusers of Interpol, and neither Interpol nor some other member states do anything about it.’
Bill suggested that Interpol has failed in its mission if it’s been utilized by Russia to focus on so many opponents of the Kremlin.
‘It’s not fit for purpose and desires to be reformed properly. They proceed to make use of bureaucratic language to justify themselves, but in reality, it’s a disgrace how they’re utilized by the Russian mafia regime to chase their victims,’ he said.
For Bill, even eight years after his two arrests, Russia’s weaponisation of Interpol remains to be on the forefront of his mind.
He’s needed to limit his travel to countries which won’t honour Interpol notices from Russia for his own safety.
Despite this, he added, ‘My situation is lucky because I’m well-known. I actually have good lawyers and significant resources to fight back.
‘But there are journalists, NGO activists, and others who don’t have those advantages, and whose lives are totally ruined by this abuse of Interpol.’
Metro has contacted Interpol for an announcement.
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