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In an article published Sunday, October the 4th, and entitled «Saudi campaign to abduct and silence rivals abroad goes back decades», the Washington Post stated that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) «had not issued a notice of any kind» for Saudi Prince Turki bin Bindar.
The American newspaper was referring to a statement issued on October the 12th by the Moroccan Justice Ministry, through which Rabat announced that it had extradited the Saudi official «to comply with an Interpol warrant».
Responding to international reports on the procedure, the Ministry indicated that Morocco arrested the Prince, «wanted by Interpol» in 2015 and handed him down to Riyadh.
No red notice for bin Bindar
In a statement sent by email to Yabiladi, the Interpol confirmed the information revealed by the Washington Post, stressing that «the INTERPOL General Secretariat has not issued a Red Notice or diffusion for this person», referring to bin Bindar.
Furthermore, the international organization that facilitates international police cooperation explained that «not all international requests for arrests are made via INTERPOL», adding that «individual member countries can decide to cooperate with each other outside of INTERPOL channels, based on any bilateral arrangements they may have».
The same source clarified that «INTERPOL does not issue arrest warrants», adding that «Red Notices and wanted persons diffusions are simply alerts and member countries are not obliged to take action in response to these requests».
Disappeared after his Morocco extradition
For the record, Morocco's Minister of Justice Mohammed Aujjar told the Associated Press in October that the Kingdom's «supreme court issued the order for the extradition of Turki bin Bindar and that his arrest also followed strict judiciary procedures».
The minister's statement came to respond to international reports comparing the case of bin Bindar to the one of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
It was also a way of denying allegations suggesting that Morocco discretely deported the Saudi national on the basis of an extrajudicial request.
According to AFP, French daily Le Monde published an article earlier that month, indicating that bin Bindar's deportation is «an extradition of convenience».
In the story entitled «the disappearance of Saudi dissidents», Le Monde claims that after his Morocco deportation, Bin Bindar disappeared.
The newspaper links his alleged disappearance to a conflict he had with the ruling family in Riyadh. It also alleged that bin Bindar was «discreetly arrested in Morocco by local authorities, then transferred to Saudi Arabia», the same source says.
The article said bin Bandar had gotten into a conflict with the Saudi royal family over a land dispute and that he had «posted videos on YouTube calling for reforms».
A similar version of the story was brought up by The Guardian which reported that bin Bindar would have disappeared after his 2015 deportation, quoting his friends.
