Red Notice Monitor Editor Ben Keith advised BBC Eye Investigations | Russia using Interpol’s wanted list to target critics abroad, leak reveals

New BBC Eye Investigations reporting reveals that Russia has been exploiting Interpol’s Red Notice and diffusion system to pursue critics, journalists, business figures and dissidents abroad, raising urgent questions about misuse of international policing tools designed to combat serious crime.

The investigation, based on leaked Interpol files, shows that Russia has generated more complaints to the organisation’s own watchdog than any other member country over the past decade, with hundreds of requests ultimately overturned – yet most still pass initial checks. Red Notices intended for serious criminal suspects instead risk being turned into tools of transnational repression.

Ben Keith says:

“If countries are found to be significantly and persistently abusing red notices and diffusions, then they should be suspended from the system for a period of time”

At Red Notice Monitor, we’ve been tracking how authoritarian regimes exploit international policing tools. Ben Keith and Rhys Davies, editors of Red Notice Monitor, have spoken extensively about the need for stronger safeguards, independent review mechanisms and transparency to ensure that Interpol’s systems are not misused for political ends.

The article was first published on the BBC and can be read here.

The documentary can be watched on BBC’s iPlayer and outside the UK on YouTube. 

Sign up for Red Notice Monitor’s newsletter here.

—

Image: Planet Volumes via Unsplash