Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Interview: Browder Case Highlights Need To Prevent Abuse Of Interpol

Radio Free Europe

In late May, Interpol rejected a request from Moscow to track the movements of American investor Bill Browder, who has been actively seeking an investigation into the 2009 death while in custody of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. Russian authorities have accused Browder of tax evasion and attempting to illegally acquire shares in the natural gas monopoly, Gazprom.

RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson spoke with Alex Tinsley, a law reform officer at the London-based nongovernmental organization Fair Trials International, about the abuse of Interpol’s mechanisms for political purposes by Russia and other countries and about what needs to be done.

RFE/RL: What is the significance of Interpol’s decision in the Browder case?

Alex Tinsley: What happened in the Browder case is that Russia put out a request seeking to use Interpol’s channels to keep tabs on Mr. Browder’s movements, and Interpol swiftly refused to allow Russia to use its channels in that way. It has been portrayed as a snub to Russia, but it was very much to be expected.

This is an incredibly well-publicized case, and it is not particularly significant that they actually stopped Interpol’s channels being used to pursue Mr. Browder. What is more worrying is the fact that swift action hasn’t been taken in the same way in other cases of political opponents who have been pursued through Interpol’s channels.

RFE/RL: Before we move on to those cases, can you tell us more about what a red notice is and what are its consequences?

Tinsley: A red notice is an alert which lets law-enforcement agencies all around the world know that a particular person is sought by a particular country. It is published by Interpol at that country’s request, and what happens is that when a person who is subject to an Interpol red notice is encountered at an airport or other forms of police checks, they are very likely to be arrested, because lots of countries will automatically arrest someone who is subject to a red notice. And then they will potentially spend time in detention, often for several months at the expense of their health while the question is decided whether they can be extradited or not.

But there are also lots of other effects — there is a whole catalog of human impact that comes with a red notice. It can affect your ability to obtain credit, to keep professional licenses, open bank accounts. And people lose their jobs. People who need to travel and who need visas will find their visas being revoked and will not be able to travel. So it can really have some serious impact. It has been said that unlike a prosecution, there is no swift end to it. It just persecutes consistently over time.