US Signals It Will Oppose Putin Lieutenant To Head Interpol

The U.S. will try to stop the anticipated election of a top lieutenant of Vladimir Putin as president of Interpol, the world’s largest police organization.

Regarding the candidacy of Alexander Prokupchuk, former Russian deputy minister of the Interior and now an Interpol vice president, a State Department spokesman told Newsmax on Monday that “there is more than one candidate for [Interpol president].”

“[W]e are actively and broadly engaged with Interpol member-states to underscore the need to elect some who will promote, not undermine, the values and practices that make Interpol such a vital international body,” the spokesman added, making an unmistakeable reference to the controversial Prokupchuk.

The vote on the Interpol presidency is expected sometime this week by delegates from 192 member-states who are meeting in Dubai.

As an official of the Russian Interior Ministry, Prokupchuk has long been the subject of charges he oversaw state-run bullying of private businessmen who clashed with the Putin government.

Among the victims of harassment by the Interior Ministry were American businessman William Browder (whose long-running tax dispute with the Russian government led to the Magnitsky sanctions now placed by the U.S. on numerous Kremlin officials).

Longtime Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky weighed in strongly against the election of Prokupchuk to head Interpol, which is widley considered the premier source for sharing information on crime worldwide.

In addition, Newsmax has learned that several Members of Congress are preparing a letter urging delegates in Dubai to reject Prokupchuk’s bid for the Interpol helm.

For the last month, worldwide attention has been focused on Interpol, which was founded in 1923 as the International Police Commission (IPIC). It operates under a budget of 113 million euros and has a headquarters in Lyon, France with a staff of 756.

The October arrest of its President Meng Hongwei in his native China on corruption charges and his resulting resignation from the Interpol helm has necessitated a new election by delegates at the Dubai convention.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.