The issue of Russia’s request for INTERPOL’s help in locating William Browder was previously covered here.  Mr. Browder sought the removal of his data from INTERPOL’s files, and his request was granted.  Since that time, Russia’s interest in Mr. Browder has continued, and earlier this week, Russia requested a Red Notice in Mr. Browder’s name.  

As of yesterday, INTERPOL issued a public statement regarding Russia’s most recent request for INTERPOL’s assistance against Mr. Browder: 

Today, Friday 26 July, INTERPOL received another request from the National Central Bureau of Moscow concerning Mr Browder, this time seeking to locate and arrest Mr Browder with a view to his extradition on a charge of ‘qualified swindling’ as defined by the Russian Penal Code.

INTERPOL considers this charge to be covered by the previous decision of May 2013. Therefore all information related to this request for Mr Browder’s arrest has been deleted from INTERPOL’s databases and all INTERPOL member countries have been informed accordingly.

While it is unusual for INTERPOL to issue a statement regarding a decision to deny or grant a Red Notice request, Mr. Browder’s case is also unusual, particularly in terms of the level of attention his case has received.  INTERPOL went on to explain the publication of the reasoning behind its decision:

INTERPOL has taken the decision to make its decisions and actions public in response to the Russian Federation’s request, given their public statement on the matter.

The issues in Mr. Browder’s case were determined to have been politically motivated and thereby prohibited by INTERPOL’s constitution.

As always, comments and questions are welcomed.