Independent commission to decide whether Interpol should declare Khodorkovsky wanted - source
MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) - Interpol will decide on whether to declare former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky wanted, and seek his arrest after a special independent commission considers his case, an Interpol source said.
As a rule, the Interpol headquarters in Lyon automatically issues arrest warrants for people who were declared internationally wanted by Interpol member-states, the source said. However, in certain cases, including when there is a relevant request from a wanted person's lawyers, or at Interpol's own initiative, based on information suggesting that the person's criminal investigation could be politically motivated, a decision on whether to put them on the wanted list is delegated to an independent commission, he said.
This commission is entitled to decide whether there are political motives behind a particular person's prosecution, and whether Interpol can declare them internationally wanted, the source said.
In the case of Khodorkovsky, the matter is likely to be decided by a commission, and it is difficult now to predict its decision, the source said.
A source possessing information on the matter had told Interfax earlier on Thursday that the Russian national central bureau of Interpol had decided to put Khodorkovsky on the Interpol database of wanted persons based on the Russian Prosecutor General's Office's and the Investigative Committee's decisions.