Interpol said Saturday that it has requested notification from China of the status of its missing president.
Meng Hongwei, 64, was elected president of Interpol in 2016 to serve
until 2020. He also serves as a vice minister of public security in
China, but he lives in Lyon, France, where Interpol is based, with his
wife and children. His family members last heard from him before he left
for China on Sept. 29.
"Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels
clarification from China's authorities on the status of Interpol
President Meng Hongwei," Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said in
a statement posted to Twitter. "Interpol's General Secretariat looks
forward to an official response from China's authorities to address
concerns over the President's well-being."
Meng's wife reported him missing to police in Lyon Thursday after she
said she hadn't heard from in in 10 days and had recently received
threats, a French Interior Ministry statement said.
"France is looking into the situation of the President of Interpol and
is concerned about the threats his wife has received," the statement
said, adding that a "suitable police mechanism" was put in place to
guarantee her safety. The prosecutor's office in Lyon has also opened an
investigation.
A source told the South China Morning Post that Meng was under
investigation in China and was "taken away" for questioning by
discipline authorities "as soon as he landed in China" last week. The
reason for an investigation of him remains unclear.
Meng was the first Chinese official to take the post of the Interpol
agency, which facilitates cooperation between 192 law enforcement
agencies worldwide, China's state news agency, Xinhua reported.
It's unclear if he was on official business in China.
Meng's last official engagement, according to his page on China's Ministry of Public Security's website, was in August.
He lost his seat on the Communist Party Committee in China in April, South China Morning Post reported.
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