Arrest is politically motivated, says wife
THE wife of the missing Chinese former head of Interpol has dismissed allegations by authorities in China accusing her husband of corruption and said his arrest was politically motivated.
China will prosecute former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei for graft after an investigation found he spent “lavish” amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow Communist Party decisions, Beijing’s anticorruption watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The press release openly reveals the political nature of Mr Meng’s case, without addressing the issues concerning our family’s fundamental human rights,” Grace Meng said in a statement sent to Reuters by her lawyers on Thursday.
The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said Meng was suspected of taking bribes and causing serious harm to the party’s image and state interests, adding he should be severely dealt with.
Grace Meng, who has remained in Lyon, France with the couple’s two children, said China had failed to provide any information about her husband’s whereabouts or wellbeing.
The CCDI issued its statement after Chinese president Xi Jinping returned from a state visit to France, where President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of human rights in China and certain specific cases, a French presidency official said.
Grace Meng, who applied for asylum in France in January, had written to Macron before Xi’s trip, seeking his help.
A source close to the investigation said Beijing had not asked for her extradition and her asylum request was still under consideration.
Meng, 65, was appointed president of Interpol in late 2016.
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