How Russia used Interpol’s most wanted list to target Putin’s critics
Russia has been using Interpol to target those who speak out against Vladimir Putin and the 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 say have committed ‘crimes’.
Interpol said it is 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 a person – from Moscow due to 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 Russia can use these systems to target its critics abroad highlights the problems that open societies face in withstanding the kind of pernicious threat that Russia presents,’ he said.
‘If a tool is available for Russia to use to target those it wishes to silence or punish, they will 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 this is 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 in the West is tangible.
Sir Bill Browder, a former investor in Russia, who has since turned into 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 since the Magnitsky Act was passed in 2012, Putin has been chasing me around the world trying to have me arrested and brought back to Russia so I can 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 in the Russian government, works to sanction corrupt officials who commit human rights abuses.
Bill, who spearheaded the campaign for his late lawyer, is wanted by the Kremlin because he helped uncover massive Russian corruption.
The Kremlin claims his charges are ‘tax evasion’ – but the true target 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 able to 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 ready to abuse Interpol, there needs to be some type of restrictions, constraints, or sanctions imposed on them so they don’t do it anymore,’ he told Metro.
‘They continue to be the most active abusers of Interpol, and neither Interpol nor any other member states do anything about it.’
Bill suggested that Interpol has failed in its mission if it’s been used by Russia to target so many opponents of the Kremlin.
‘It’s not fit for purpose and needs to be reformed properly. They continue to use bureaucratic language to justify themselves, but in fact, it’s a disgrace how they are used 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 is still at the forefront of his mind.
He’s had 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 have good lawyers and significant resources to fight back.
‘But there are journalists, NGO activists, and others who don’t have those benefits, and whose lives are totally ruined by this abuse of Interpol.’
Metro has contacted Interpol for a statement.
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