Interpol must accept the resignation of its Chinese boss, who is currently detained in China on charges of accepting bribes, the organisation's number two said here Thursday.
Interpol, which coordinates police work across the world, has been "strongly encouraging China to provide us with more details, more information" on what exactly took place when former director Meng Hongwei was reported missing in early October, Juergen Stock told a news conference at Interpol headquarters.
"We have to accept, like we would accept with any other country, that this country (China) is taking sovereign decisions and if that country tells us: 'we have investigations, they are ongoing, and the president has been resigning, he's not a delegate of the country anymore,' then we have to accept," Stock said.
Meng, who had travelled back to China, was reported missing by his wife who had stayed at home in the southeastern French city of Lyon.
China then informed Interpol that Meng had resigned as director, before saying he had been charged with accepting bribes.
Grace Meng, the wife of Interpol president Meng Hongwei, reported her husband missing. Source: AAP
Stock said he had no further details and could only say that the bribery charges were not linked to Meng's work at Interpol.
"There's no reason for me to suspect that anything was forced or wrong" regarding the resignation, Stock said.
Ming's successor is to be appointed later this month at Interpol's general assembly in Dubai.
Days after his disappearance, Beijing said Meng was under investigation for corruption and possibly other crimes. Source: AAP
The body investigating Meng, China's National Supervisory Commission, can hold suspects for as long as six months without providing access to legal counsel.
