Wife of Ex-Interpol Chief Says Arrest in China was Politically Motivated

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/world/asia/interpol-chief-arrest-china.html

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The wife of the missing Chinese former head of Interpol on Thursday dismissed allegations by authorities in China accusing her husband of graft and said his arrest was politically motivated.

China will prosecute former Interpol chief, Meng Hongwei, for graft after an investigation found he spent “lavish” amounts of state funds, abused his power and refused to follow Communist Party decisions, Beijing’s anti-corruption watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr. Meng’s wife, Grace Meng, said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday by her lawyers, “The press release openly reveals the political nature of Mr. Meng’s case, without addressing the issues concerning our family’s fundamental human rights.”

Interpol, the global police coordination agency based in France, said last October that Mr. Meng had resigned as its president, days after his wife reported him missing while he was on a trip to China.

The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDDI) said Mr. Meng was suspected of taking bribes and causing serious harm to the party’s image and state’s interests, adding that he should be dealt with severely.

Grace Meng, who has remained in Lyon, France, with the couple’s two children, said the CCDI has not provided any information about her husband’s whereabouts or well-being.

“Instead, the CCDI made vague, general, uncorroborated statements,” she said. “Chinese authorities have not formulated actual charges or adduced the alleged supporting evidence.”