Earlier this month, I wrote here about INTERPOL’s role and the fact that INTERPOL is not concerned with guilt or innocence. Instead, INTERPOL is concerned with assisting member countries with the return of fugitives to the proper authorities so that the rule of law may be carried out properly. This is still true, but a bit more information on the issue of innocence is necessary for the sake of completion.
There are those rare instances wherein the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice is actually found to be not guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, or where the underlying charging documents are found to be invalid, as I discussed back in April, here. In those rare but delicious cases, INTERPOL does care about innocence. More precisely, INTERPOL’s involvement is no longer appropriate nor permitted once a finding of “not guilty” has been made.
And as any defense attorney will attest, a “not guilty” will do just as well as “innocent.”
As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed.