According to the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), the election of Kim Jong Yang (South Korea) as the new President of Interpol is a good sign. "For Interpol, this is an important step with regard to the organization's credibility – although there will have to be further steps to restore it. Thus, it is necessary to clarify the abduction and the whereabouts of former Interpol President Meng Hongwei, who is from China. Further, Interpol will have to change the procedure of the controversial "Red Notice" in order to prevent further misuse by authoritarian states," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's director, in Göttingen on Wednesday. The "Red Notice" is frequently used to prosecute regime-critics, especially by Turkey, China, and Russia.

In the election of the new Interpol President in Dubai, Kim Jong Yang surprisingly prevailed against his Russian rival Alexander Prokoptschuk. The long-favored Russian candidate had been accused of playing an important role in the criminalization of regime opponents in Russia.

Delius emphasized that Interpol will now have to face the challenge of clarifying the fate of Meng Hongwei. When he was elected as the organization's president in 2016, this was widely seen as a step forward in the struggle against corruption. Now, the Chinese Deputy Minister of State Security was arrested for alleged corruption himself. It is suspected that he is to be removed because of his extensive knowledge of the power elite in China, due to the ongoing power struggle over China's leadership.

"Interpol should not accept the formalistic statement by the Chinese government, according to which its senior representative – after being kidnapped – had retired from office," Delius demanded. "In order to be taken seriously, the world's highest police organization must not ignore abductions."

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