Advocate
Dmytro Konovalenko
Service:
Removal of all client data from the Interpol database and cancellation of extradition.
Resolving corruption issues occupies a special niche in the investigation of cases concerning the international search by Interpol. In order to obtain a fair sentence, a thorough study of all data, familiarization with the facts, and additional details is required. This is the principle that our lawyers adhered to when considering the case of one of the Belarusian businessmen concerning an illegal accusation of corruption.
Features of a corruption case
In 2020, a Belarusian businessman was suspected of bribing an official, which became the main reason for his further illegal prosecution by the FSB. The charges related to financial gain related to government contracts in the construction sector, which were signed between 2013 and 2016. Before our client was accused of corruption in Belarus, he was considered a witness, and therefore the police did not have any suspicions against him. As a result, our client lived freely in Spain, where he was regularly called in for questioning as a witness.
But over time, he turned from a witness into a suspect in a corruption case in Belarus, which led to the issuance of an Interpol blue card. Our lawyers sent a request to the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF) to look into this matter in more detail. Thus, it was possible to find out that the blue card was issued for the very case where our client had previously been a witness.
However, the international organization’s system contained information that did not correspond to the reasons for issuing such a notice. Therefore, we decided to file an urgent complaint in order to immediately delete all data and acquit our client, who is in no way connected with corruption in Belarus. The Commission considered our request, providing a positive response to the possibility of deleting all data about the client.
But this is not the end of the issue, since a few months later our client was detained in Spain due to the issued diffusion, which appeared in the Interpol system on the initiative of the National Central Bank of Belarus. We managed to check the Interpol database again and it turned out that the client was detained as a result of suspicions from the Belarusian government of corruption in a case that had previously been closed. However, now it was a matter of diffusion.
Commission Decision
During the investigation, it was possible to obtain a refusal of extradition, and therefore our lawyers again submitted a request to the Commission to delete all data about the client. We are of the opinion that such actions by the NCB of Belarus can be considered as manipulation, concerning the Interpol mailing system. For this reason, an urgent response is required from the General Secretariat to punish all those guilty of re-initiating a case that was resolved.
