His case caused a sensation worldwide: Meng Hongwei, then head of Interpol, disappeared in autumn 2018 without a trace when visiting China, It was not until weeks later that he found himself accused of corruption had been arrested, Now a court in the People’s Republic has sentenced him to 13 years and six months in prison.
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Meng had pleaded guilty at the beginning of his trial. During the hearing, he admitted to having accepted a bribe of $ 2.1 million (€ 1.86 million), the court in northeast China’s Tianjin city told the Weibo Chinese Embassy Service. Former Vice Minister of Public Security “showed remorse” in court, it was said.
Previously, he was seen as a political hope: Meng’s appointment to the top of Interpol 2016 was a success of the leadership in Beijing, which wanted to secure more weight on the global stage. At the time, Amnesty International accused China of trying to use Interpol to search for Chinese dissidents and activists.
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The allegations against Meng came in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign by the President Xi Jinping in the ranks of senior party cadres. Critics see the campaign as a strategy Xis to get rid of political opponents. Since Xi’s inauguration in November 2012, dozens of high-ranking politicians, military officers and managers have been arrested on charges of corruption. The way the Chinese Interpol boss was suddenly pulled out of the market without notice had sparked international criticism.
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