Javid: Russia abuses Interpol rules
SAJID JAVID has urged Interpol to prevent the “abuse” of its network by states targeting dissidents, after the arrest of a British-based critic of Vladimir Putin at the behest of Moscow.
The Home Secretary intervened after Bill Browder, a campaigner against Russian human rights abuses, was arrested by Spanish police in response to a Russian order distributed using the policing body’s databases.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Mr Javid’s officials raised formal concerns with the body earlier this summer after Mr Browder was detained in Madrid while preparing to give evidence about corrupt Russian money flowing into Spain.
His intervention follows concerns raised publicly by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last year after Turkey used an Interpol arrest warrant to detain a German writer in Spain.
In a letter to MPs, seen by this newspaper, Mr Javid said he took the issue “very seriously” and that “concerns about such abuses are not limited to the Russian Federation”.
Mr Javid said he was “working with Interpol to ensure the right systems are in place to protect individuals’ rights” and uphold the body’s constitution, which prevents “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.”
His comments came in response to a letter from a group of MPs, led by Richard Benyon, a Conservative member of Parliament’s intelligence and security committee, and Ian Austin, a former Labour minister, who wrote to Mr Javid in July, following Mr Browder’s arrest on May 30. They highlighted Russia’s repeated attempts to seek Mr Browder’s detention through the international body, insisting that its actions were in breach of Interpol’s rules.
In a letter dated Aug 15, Mr Javid said: “As Home Secretary, I am acutely aware of the pattern of increasingly aggressive Russian behaviour attacking the international rules-based system across Europe and beyond. And of course I am aware of Mr Browder’s work in spurring international action in respect of the death in custody in 2009 of Sergei Magnitsky [Mr Browder’s lawyer].”
Mr Javid said that Home Office officials and the National Crime Agency “have looked into Mr Browder’s case to ascertain the facts with the Spanish authorities”, but added that the Government could not comment on the specifics of any case.
He continued: “The UK has taken a strongly supportive stance in relation to Interpol’s efforts to ensure robust systems are in place to protect human rights, and the Home Office has been proactive in its engagement with Interpol on this matter.”
Mr Browder was released by Spanish police after Interpol declared the “diffusion order” that led to his arrest was invalid. A Council of Europe report in 2017 warned of alleged “abuses” of the Interpol system by states pursuing “political goals”, citing Mr Browder’s case as an example.
Last night, Mr Benyon welcomed Mr Javid’s intervention, adding: “I and a cross-party group of MPs will be keeping the pressure up on the Government to work other Interpol countries to prevent this kind of human rights abuse.”