Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Kim Jong-yang had been acting Interpol chief since the last president's disappearance in September

Interpol has elected South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its president, rejecting the controversial Russian frontrunner.

Mr Kim was chosen by Interpol's 194 member states at a meeting of its annual congress in Dubai.

He beat Russia's Alexander Prokopchuk, who has been accused of using Interpol's arrest warrant system to target critics of the Kremlin.

Russia blamed the outcome of the voting on "unprecedented pressure and interference".

The election follows the disappearance of Interpol's former president Meng Hongwei, who vanished on a trip to China in September. Beijing has since confirmed he has been detained and is being investigated for allegedly taking bribes.

Who is Kim Jong-yang?

Mr Kim, 57, beat Mr Prokopchuk, also 57, by 101 votes to 61 at Interpol's General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, media reports say.

Interpol confirmed the South Korean's victory, without revealing the breakdown of the results.

Mr Kim is a former South Korean police officer who once served as head of police in Gyeonggi, the country's most populous province.

He was already senior vice-president of Interpol and had been serving as acting president since Mr Meng's disappearance. He will serve out the remaining two years of Mr Meng's term.

Although his role as president is largely ceremonial - the day-to-day running of Interpol is led by Secretary-General Jürgen Stock - it does wield influence.

Upon his election, Mr Kim said: "Our world is now facing unprecedented changes which present huge challenges to public security and safety.

"To overcome them, we need a clear vision: we need to build a bridge to the future."

Who is Alexander Prokopchuk?

Mr Prokopchuk is a Russian general who worked for many years with Russia's interior ministry.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Russian Alexander Prokopchuk was widely considered the frontrunner for the post

While he was Interpol's Moscow bureau chief, he was accused of abusing the so-called red notice system - international arrest warrants - to target those who were critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

No such accusations have been levelled at him while he has been one of Interpol's four vice-presidents.

Moscow said Mr Prokopchuk would remain an Interpol vice-president representing Europe and "focus on strengthening the position of Interpol in the international police community and increasing the efficiency of the organisation's work".

Who opposed Prokopchuk's candidacy and why?

There had been growing fears among Russian human rights groups and officials from other countries that Moscow would use his position as president to target its political opponents.

A bipartisan group of US senators said electing Mr Prokopchuk would be "akin to putting a fox in charge of the henhouse", while a prominent Kremlin critic said it would be like "putting the mafia in charge".

This prompted a furious response from Moscow, who said such comments amounted to a "certain kind of interference in the electoral process of an international organisation".

Both the UK foreign office and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threw their weight behind Kim Jong-yang's candidacy. Lithuania and Ukraine had threatened to withdraw from Interpol if Mr Prokopchuk was elected.

Two British-based prominent critics of the Kremlin - financier Bill Browder and ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky - say they plan to launch a legal bid to have Russia suspended by Interpol.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Bill Browder: Russian Interpol candidate 'most inappropriate'

Bill Browder, who was held in Spain earlier this year after a Russian Interpol request, has been a thorn in the Kremlin's side, being widely credited with the creation of the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 range of sanctions from the United States on top Russian officials accused of corruption.

He welcomed the rejection of Mr Prokopchuk saying: "Reason prevails in this dark world."

"The clear next step is to suspend Russia from Interpol for its consistent and serial abuse of the Red Notice and diffusion system for political purposes," he added.

How many Red Notices are issued?

By BBC Reality Check team

Most of them are not made public, so tracking is difficult. It's also highly subjective as to whether notices have been issued for only political reasons.

But looking at Interpol's published database on Red Notices, we can draw some interesting insights.

First, of the cases publicly declared by individual countries, Interpol's data shows that 160 individuals are wanted by Russia. This is also the number wanted by the US.

One person is wanted by the UK and 44 by China.

This is not a complete picture as countries can restrict details of the notice to law enforcement.

We do, however, know the total number of notices issued by all countries, and this shows a significant rise over the past decade.

In 2006, Interpol issued fewer than 3,000, according to statistics gathered by Fair Trial (from collated Interpol data), an organisation that campaigns against abuses of Interpol.

The number has steadily increased and in 2017, when Interpol published about 13,000 Red Notices.

There were a total of about 85,000 notices in circulation at the end of 2016.

Countries can also request other colour-coded notices to help locate suspects or warn member countries of criminal activity.

How did Russian media react?

By BBC Monitoring

Image caption Kremlin-controlled media said the vote was further evidence of "a veritable information war" against Mr Prokopchuk

The Kremlin-controlled media are casting Mr Prokopchuk's defeat as the victory of a "Russophobic lobby".

A newsreader on national state TV channel Rossiya 1 accused the West of mounting a "veritable information war" against the Russian candidate.

On the country's tightly-controlled daytime political talk shows, the mood was that the vote was yet another example of the wall of hostility apparently encircling Russia.

Presenters stressed that Moscow was in fact not really that interested in the Interpol job, and that this was a fight started out of nothing by its enemies, especially US politicians and the British media.</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - International police body Interpol elected Kim Jong-yang of South Korea as president for a two-year term on Wednesday, beating a Russian national whose candidacy raised concerns in Europe and the United States about the risk of Kremlin interference.

Interpol’s 194 member states, meeting in Dubai for their annual congress, elected Kim to succeed China’s Meng Hongwei, who disappeared in September and later resigned after Chinese authorities said he was being investigated for suspected bribery.

Interpol said on Twitter that Kim, who had been serving as acting president, had been elected for a two-year term. The body’s presidency, a largely ceremonial role, is typically held for four years.

It said Nestor R. Roncaglia of Argentina had been elected to a three-year term as vice president for the Americas.

Day-to-day work is handled by Secretary-General Jurgen Stock of Germany, but the presidency still commands influence. The candidacy of Alexander Prokopchuk of Russia, a police major-general and one of Interpol’s four vice-presidents, led to concern in Europe and the United States about the possibility of Russia being able to exploit Interpol’s power.

The United States said on Tuesday it supported Kim to lead the agency after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators accused Russia of exploiting the global body to settle scores and harass dissidents.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that public opposition by a group of U.S. senators to the Russian candidate amounted to election meddling.

In Europe former Belgian prime minister and European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt had said “democratic and free countries may need to develop a parallel organization” if Prokopchuk was elected.

“Russia has consistently misused Interpol to pursue its political opponents,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Former Interpol president Meng has not been since he disappeared during a trip to China from where he sent a letter to Interpol announcing his resignation.

Days after his wife reported him missing, Chinese authorities said he was under investigation. Meng’s term was due to end in 2020.</s>Interpol announced Wednesday that Kim Jong-yang of South Korea had been chosen as its new president, beating a Russian official whose candidacy had unnerved Western nations.

The US-backed Kim, acting president of the global police body, was picked at a meeting of delegates from member nations in Dubai to replace Meng Hongwei, who went missing in his native China in September.

Beijing later said Meng resigned after being charged with accepting bribes.

There had been growing calls within Western nations for Interpol to reject Russian candidate Alexander Prokopchuk -- a Russian interior ministry official and current Interpol vice president -- over fears Moscow could abuse the role to target political opponents.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threw his weight behind Kim, who will serve out Meng's term until 2020.

"We encourage all nations and organisations that are part of Interpol and that respect the rule of law to choose a leader with integrity. We believe Mr. Kim will be just that," Pompeo told reporters.

Critics have raised concerns over Russia's previous applications for Interpol "Red Notices", or international arrest warrants, to target those who have fallen foul of the Kremlin.

Interpol's president chairs its General Assembly while day-to-day operations are handled by the organisation's Secretary general Juergen Stock.

In an open letter this week, a bipartisan group of US senators said choosing Prokopchuk would be like "putting a fox in charge of a henhouse".

"Russia routinely abuses Interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents, dissidents and journalists," they wrote.

Harriett Baldwin, a minister of state at the British foreign office, told parliament on Tuesday that London would support Kim's bid.

Anti-Kremlin figures had also raised concerns, including Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who has been repeatedly jailed by authorities.

"Our team has suffered from abuse of Interpol for political persecution by Russia," Navalny wrote on Twitter. "I don't think that a president from Russia will help to reduce such violations."

US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis echoed the endorsement for Kim.

"As recent events show, the Russian government abuses INTERPOL's processes to harass its political opponents," he said on Twitter.

The controversy also comes amid security concerns over accusations of Russian agents attempting to poison an ex-spy in Britain and trying to hack the network of the global chemical weapons watchdog.

Ukraine, deeply at odds with Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and support for separatists, threatened to pull out of Interpol if Prokopchuk prevailed. Lithuania also said it would consider withdrawing from the network.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the US senators' letter as a "vivid example" of an attempt to interfere in the vote.

But two foes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have been targeted by international arrest warrants sought by Moscow, also said Tuesday they were launching a bid to get Russia suspended from Interpol for abusing the agency.

The legal challenge was announced by financier Bill Browder, named in multiple Interpol warrants, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky -- a former oil baron who spent 10 years in a Russian jail and now lives in exile in London.

"The Interpol constitution has very specific rules which forbid countries who are serial abusers from using the system," Browder told reporters.

Briefly arrested in Spain this year under a Moscow-issued Red Notice, Browder said the Russian candidacy was an attempt by Putin to "expand his criminal tentacles to every corner of the globe".

He fought for -- and in 2012 secured -- US sanctions against Russian officials believed to be involved in the death of his tax consultant, Sergei Magnitsky.

Magnitsky died in jail in 2009 after accusing Russian officials of a $230-million tax fraud.

Russia has rejected the claims and this week announced it was opening a new probe into Browder on suspicion of running a "transnational criminal gang", even suggesting he was behind Magnitsky's death.

Russian prosecutors said he would be put on an international wanted list "in the near future".

Multilingual Prokopchuk worked in tax enforcement before starting as a Russian representative at Interpol in 2006, according to the interior ministry.</s>Interpol elects South Korea's Kim Jong Yang as its president in blow to Russian efforts at naming one of their own

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Interpol elects South Korea's Kim Jong Yang as its president in blow to Russian efforts at naming one of their own.</s>Kim was elected by 194 members of the organisation, known as the “world’s largest policing organisation”, at its 87th annual general assembly in Dubai.

Interpol has elected South Korean Kim Jong-yang as president, rejecting controversial Russian frontrunner Alexander Prokopchuk, who has been accused of abusing the policing body’s international arrest warrant system.

#BREAKING : Kim Jong Yang of the Republic of #Korea has been elected President of INTERPOL (2-yr term). #INTERPOLGA pic.twitter.com/6I9HIyUWrf

He has been serving as acting head since October, when ex-president Meng Hongwei resigned after being detained and investigated by Chinese officials over corruption allegations.

Kim will serve until 2020 - the end of the current mandate.

Prokopchuk, 57, serves as a general in the Russian Interior Ministry and a vice president at Interpol representing Europe, but news that he was tipped to become its chief drew international concern, including from UK and US politicians.

Home affairs select committee chair Yvette Cooper yesterday signed a joint letter with Tom Tugendhat, foreign affairs select committee chair, accusing Prokopchuk of abusing the Red Notice arrest warrant system to political ends.

He has been blamed for the controversial arrests and harassment of British hedge fund manager Bill Browder, among other Kremlin critics, while head of Russia’s National Central Bureau – an office held by every Interpol member state.

Kim’s win means he secured at least two-thirds of votes cast at Interpol’s general assembly in Dubai on Wednesday.</s>Interpol snubs Russia for South Korea's Kim Jong-yang as new president

In a rebuke to the Kremlin, international police body Interpol has elected South Korea's Kim Jong-yang as president — the preferred candidate for the US and its allies.

Interpol's 194 member states, meeting in Dubai for their annual congress, elected Mr Kim to succeed China's Meng Hongwei, who disappeared in September and later resigned after Chinese authorities said he was being investigated for suspected bribery.

Interpol said on Twitter that Mr Kim, who had been serving as acting president, had been elected for a two-year term.

The body's presidency, a largely ceremonial role, is typically held for four years.

It said Nestor R Roncaglia of Argentina had been elected to a three-year term as vice-president for the Americas.

Day-to-day work is handled by secretary-general Jurgen Stock of Germany, but the presidency still commands influence.

Kim, 57, worked in the South Korean police for more than 20 years before retiring in 2015.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in congratulated Mr Kim on becoming the first South Korean to head the organisation.

"We're very proud. I, together with our people, am sending congratulations," Moon wrote on Twitter.

US accuses Russia of using Interpol to settle scores

The candidacy of Alexander Prokopchuk of Russia, a police major-general and one of Interpol's four vice-presidents, led to concern in Europe and the United States about the possibility of Russia being able to exploit Interpol's power.

The US said on Tuesday it supported Mr Kim to lead the agency after a bipartisan group of US senators accused Russia of exploiting the global body to settle scores and harass dissidents.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that public opposition by a group of US senators to the Russian candidate amounted to election meddling.

In Europe, former Belgian prime minister and European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt had said "democratic and free countries may need to develop a parallel organisation" if Prokopchuk was elected.

Former Interpol president Mr Meng has not been since he disappeared during a trip to China from where he sent a letter to Interpol announcing his resignation.

Days after his wife, Grace Meng, reported him missing in September, Chinese authorities said he was under investigation for corruption charges.

Mr Meng's detention is one that sits in a long line of high-level Communist Party officials being ensnared by Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on official corruption — an initiative that some conclude is a power purge.

Prior to his tenure at Interpol, Mr Meng held public security, counter-terrorism and narcotics control posts within the party.

In early October, China's Ministry of Public Security released a statement saying Mr Hongwei's "insistence on doing things in his own way means he has only himself to blame for being placed under investigation".

Questions linger around Mr Hongwei's welfare, with Ms Meng earlier telling reporters in France that Chinese officials were "cruel" and that "everybody in China is at risk".</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Interpol elects South Korea’s Kim Jong Yang as its president in blow to Russian efforts at naming one of their own.</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - International police organization Interpol on Wednesday elected Kim Jong-yang of South Korea as president, beating a Russian whose candidacy had raised concerns in Europe and the United States about the risk of Kremlin interference.

Interpol’s Secretary-General Jurgen Stock told reporters Kim’s election was free and transparent after Russia said clear outside pressure had been exerted on the vote.

Kim was elected president, a largely ceremonial role, at Interpol’s annual congress in Dubai for a two-year term to succeed China’s Meng Hongwei. The presidency is typically held for four years.

“The general assembly elected Mr. Kim from Korea as president through a voting process which was democratic, transparent, free and clear,” said Stock of Germany who heads day-to-day work at Interpol.

The president is elected after winning a two-thirds majority among members in a secret ballot, according to Interpol’s website.

U.S. and European politicians and Kremlin critics had lobbied against the candidacy of Alexander Prokopchuk of Russia, a police major-general and one of Interpol’s four vice-presidents.

“No matter ... what the nationality of the presidency is, it is not effecting Interpol’s neutrality and the independence of our organization,” said Stock.

Interpol’s role is to facilitate cooperation between police forces around the world. Its charter forbids it from involving itself in disputes of a political, religious or racial nature. It is not a supranational police force and has no agents who are allowed to make arrests.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators this week accused Russia of exploiting the global body to settle scores and harass dissidents by issuing warrants, known as red notices, for their arrest.

“Let me be crystal clear, the members of the executive committee, including the president, have absolutely no involvement or influence in the task force review or decision making process,” said Stock.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We regret that it wasn’t our candidate, but nonetheless there are no grounds to disagree with the election result.”

Kim, 57, worked in the South Korean police for more than 20 years before retiring in 2015.

Kim, who had been acting president, is now completing the term of former president Meng, which was due to end in 2020. Kim will not be able to seek a second term under Interpol rules which limit the presidency to a single term, said Stock.

Meng disappeared in September during a visit to China from where he sent a letter to Interpol announcing his resignation. Days after his wife reported him missing, Chinese authorities said he was under investigation.

“Our world is now facing unprecedented changes which present huge challenges to public security and safety,” Kim said in a statement. “To overcome them, we need a clear vision: we need to build a bridge to the future.”

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in congratulated Kim on becoming the first South Korean to head the organization.

Pacific island nations Vanuatu and Kiribati were approved this week as new Interpol member countries, while Kosovo’s bid was denied, bringing the total number of member states to 194. A number of countries including Serbia do not recognize Kosovo’s independence from Belgrade, declared in 2008.</s>LONDON — The global law-enforcement group Interpol elected South Korea's Kim Jong-yang as its new president Wednesday. Kim's election averts a crisis in the international police body because it thwarts efforts by Russia to lead Interpol.

Kim was chosen by a vote among Interpol's 192 member countries – every country in the world with the exception of North Korea – during its annual general assembly in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kim, 57, will serve a two-year term.

Russian Alexander Prokopchuck, a senior general who for the past 12 years has been the head of Moscow’s national Interpol bureau, part of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, was widely tipped to win the post.

The prospect of a Russian sitting atop the international police organization raised red flags in Washington and among critics of the Kremlin who believed Russia's Vladimir Putin would have tried to influence Interpol to go after his political opponents.

"I can't imagine a more inappropriate person" for Interpol, Bill Browder, an American businessman and prominent Putin foe, told reporters in London on Tuesday, speaking of Prokopchuck. "And I can't imagine a more inappropriate country."

Browder said that if Russia had won it would have been like putting the "mafia in charge" of Interpol. Browder is responsible for pushing successful congressional passage of the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions against government officials who commit human-rights abuses. The Magnitsky Act was used to sanction 17 Saudi nationals accused of murdering the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It has also been used for sanctions against Russia for its actions supporting separatists in Ukraine.

More: Meet one of Putin's top enemies. He's a guy from Chicago

Ahead of the vote, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chris Coons, D-Del. and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. issued a statement in which they described Russia's candidacy as "akin to putting a fox in charge of the henhouse."

"Russia routinely abuses Interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents, dissidents and journalists,” the senators said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "strongly" endorsed the South Korean candidate.

Kim's elevation to the presidency comes in the wake of the disappearance of Meng Hongwei, a Chinese national who ran Lyon, France-based Interpol before vanishing in China in mysterious circumstances two months ago. Interpol said Hongwei resigned but his wife fears he is dead after being detained as part of a corruption crackdown.</s>LONDON – The global law-enforcement body Interpol elected South Korea's Kim Jong-yang its new president Wednesday. Kim's election averts a crisis in the international police group as it thwarts efforts by Russia to lead Interpol.

Kim was chosen by a vote among Interpol's 194 member countries – every country in the world with the exception of North Korea – during a general assembly in Dubai. Kim, 57, will serve a two-year term.

Russian national Alexander Prokopchuck, a senior general who for the past 12 years has been the head of Moscow’s national Interpol bureau – part of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs – was widely tipped to win the post. Prokopchuck is close to the Kremlin and has been accused of routinely abusing Interpol's Red Notice system – global arrest warrants – to target critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The prospect of a Russian sitting atop the international police organization raised red flags in Washington and among critics of the Kremlin who believed Putin would have further tried to aggressively influence Interpol to go after his political opponents.

"I can't imagine a more inappropriate person" for Interpol, Bill Browder, an American financier and prominent Putin foe, told reporters in London on Tuesday, speaking of Prokopchuck. "And I can't imagine a more inappropriate country."

Browder is responsible for pushing successful congressional passage of the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions against government officials who commit human-rights abuses. The Magnitsky Act was used recently to sanction 17 Saudi nationals accused of murdering the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It has also been used for sanctions against Russia for its actions supporting separatists in Ukraine.

"It was his (Putin's) government that organized a terrorist attack in the U.K. using chemical weapons in Salisbury. It was his government that shot down (commercial airliner) MH17 (over Ukraine), killing 298 innocent individuals. It was his government that cheated and hacked in elections in the United States and Europe," Browder said.

"To put his representative in charge of the most important international crime-fighting organization (would be) like putting the mafia in charge."

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian and Putin opponent who was once that country's richest man until his imprisonment for fraud in 2005, said that Russia would have used Interpol "not in the interests of international justice but in the interests of the people who work in the Kremlin." Khodorkovsky was released from prison in 2013 after he was pardoned by Putin and now lives in Switzerland.

More: Meet one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's top enemies. His name is Bill Browder. He's a financier. He's also just a guy from Chicago

Ahead of the Interpol vote, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chris Coons, D-Del. and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. issued a statement in which they described Russia's candidacy as "akin to putting a fox in charge of the henhouse."

"Russia routinely abuses Interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents, dissidents and journalists,” the senators said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "strongly" endorsed the South Korean candidate.

Russia claimed Interpol was being politicized. "We see a campaign aimed at discrediting (our) candidate," Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.

Kim's elevation to the presidency comes in the wake of the disappearance of Meng Hongwei, a Chinese national who ran Lyon, France-based Interpol before vanishing in China in mysterious circumstances two months ago. Interpol said Hongwei resigned but his wife fears he is dead after being detained as part of a corruption crackdown.

Kim was previously an Interpol vice president for Asia. Until his election he was serving as acting Interpol president because of Meng's disappearance.

"Our world is now facing unprecedented changes which present huge challenges to public security and safety," Kim said Wednesday after his election. "To overcome them, we need a clear vision: we need to build a bridge to the future."

Interpol's chief function is to share intelligence between member countries and coordinate searches for missing and wanted persons. It does not have its own police officers. They are comprised of border guards and officers from each member country.

Ben Emmerson, a British human rights lawyer, said there was "systematic evidence of the abusive use of the Interpol process in order to pursue those who are perceived to represent a political threat" – by Russia, but also other authoritarian countries.

He said Interpol suffers from a "complete absence of safeguards."

But Russia is the "chief offender in this regard," he added, noting that over the last decade, Moscow has issued more Red Notices alerts than any other country. "Other countries have abused the system. With Russia it is on a systemic scale."
Interpol elects South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its president, beating Russian candidate Alexander Prokopchuk.