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Bangladesh’s reported attempt to secure an Interpol Red Notice against UK MP Tulip Siddiq raises concerns over political motivation and misuse of the system, as Red Notices are not arrest warrants and are inappropriate where an individual’s whereabouts are publicly known.
Bangladesh’s attempt to obtain an Interpol Red Notice against the British MP Tulip Siddiq is a misuse of the Red Notice system. Whatever the question of guilt or innocence in the alleged corruption case linked to her aunt, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a Red Notice is neither appropriate nor justified in these circumstances.
A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It is a “seek and find” alert intended to assist in locating individuals whose whereabouts are unknown. Ms Siddiq is a serving British MP whose location, workplace, and public engagements are matters of public record. Interpol’s rules on data processing are clear: where an individual’s whereabouts are already known, the circulation of a Red Notice serves no legitimate policing purpose. In such a case, the correct legal route is not a Red Notice but, if the requesting state considers it appropriate, a formal extradition request through established legal channels.
More fundamentally, the case appears highly politicised. The proceedings arise in the context of a dramatic political transition in Bangladesh following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. Efforts to pursue relatives and associates of former political leaders risk falling squarely within the type of politically coloured cases that Interpol;s Constitution is designed to exclude. Article 3 prohibits the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political character, and the apparent basis for targeting Ms Siddiq – namely her familial association with a former head of government — raises serious concerns in this regard.
This is not about determining criminal liability. Interpol does not adjudicate guilt or innocence; it assesses whether a request complies with its rules. Where a case is politically charged, where the individual’s location is already known, and where ordinary legal cooperation mechanisms remain available, a Red Notice is an inappropriate tool.
Using the Red Notice system in these circumstances would risk undermining its core purpose as a tool for legitimate international police cooperation, rather than a mechanism capable of being drawn into politically sensitive disputes. For that reason, the issuance of any Red Notice in this case would be difficult to justify under Interpol’s own legal framework.
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