Interpol President Who Vanished In China Has Resigned
HONG KONG: Interpol announced Sunday that it had accepted the resignation of its president, Meng Hongwei, who disappeared in China in late September. The international police organization's statement came shortly after China revealed that Meng was under investigation for unspecified crimes.
Interpol said Meng's resignation was effective immediately.
China's top anti-corruption agency said in a one-sentence statement Sunday that Meng was suspected of breaking the law, without giving details. Meng, who is concurrently a Chinese deputy minister of public security, was elected to head Interpol in 2016 and slated to serve at its Lyon, France, headquarters until 2020.
The unusual case erupted into public view on Friday, when French authorities announced a search for the Chinese national after his wife, Grace, who is living in France, reported him missing to local police.
The mystery deepened dramatically over the weekend, as Grace Meng told reporters in Lyon to say that her husband had sent her a knife emoji as a way of telling her he was in danger before he vanished. Grace Meng covered her face during the news conference because she feared for her safety, the Associated Press reported.
Interpol said Friday it was seeking information about its president from Chinese law enforcement.
Meng may have been involved high-stakes power struggles, said Dali Yang, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
"He was in an international post that is significant to China's ability to influence international events," Yang said. "This damages the image of the Chinese system and shows how it takes people in without due process, so clearly they saw significant, overriding political reasons to do this."
Meng's seizure on suspicion of corruption is an ironic reversal for a Chinese official whose ascent to the top of Interpol was supposed to aid Beijing's efforts in catching corrupt runaway officials. Under his watch, China submitted to Interpol extensive lists of fugitives suspected of corruption and wanted for extradition.
China is now in the sixth year of a vast anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping that has netted thousands of officials and business executives. Critics in China and abroad have warned that many corruption investigations are politically motivated and used to consolidate Xi's power and topple rival factions.
In recent years, investigators at the Communist Party's influential Central Commission for Discipline Inspection - and an even more powerful body established this year by Xi, the National Supervisory Commission - have signaled a willingness to pursue officials in the highest levels of China's security apparatus and military.
Zhou Yongkang, a former domestic security czar, was sentenced to life in 2015 for graft, and the head of counterintelligence, Ma Jian, was prosecuted two years later.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Allahabad High Court directs Centre to decide on Rahul Gandhi's citizenship by December 19
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has instructed the Union Home Ministry to decide on a petition regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The Bench, led by Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, set a deadline of December 19, 2024, for the government to update the Court on the matter.
The petition, filed by S Vignesh Shishir, requests a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that Rahul Gandhi holds British citizenship. Shishir claims that evidence, including confidential emails shared by VSS Sarma, suggests Gandhi may be a British citizen. However, due to UK data protection laws, the British government has not disclosed full details without Gandhi's consent.
During the November 25 hearing, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey informed the Court that the Home Ministry is reviewing the representation. The Court directed the government to report on the status of the petition by the next hearing on December 19.
A similar petition challenging Rahul Gandhi's citizenship is pending before the Delhi High Court, where the matter will be heard after the Allahabad High Court's proceedings.
