››	Orange Notice
Ashraf SEKKAKI
Abdelhaq MELLOUL KHAYARI
Mohamed JOHRI

Close and rapid co-ordination between the Belgian Federal Police, the INTERPOL Brussels NCB and INTERPOL’s Command and Co-ordination Centre (CCC) at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon meant that an Orange Notice security alert was sent around the world in little more than an hour following the breakout. The Orange Notice contains the names, photographs and fingerprints of the three fugitives.

Mohammed Johry, Abdel Had Kahjary Mulloul and Ashraf Sekkaki – who is considered one of Belgium's most dangerous criminals, with more than 16 convictions for violence, including bank robbery and kidnapping – broke out of the jail after accomplices hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to land in the prison courtyard.

The issue of the INTERPOL Orange Notice will help law enforcement officers worldwide in their search and eventual identification of the prisoners when located and arrested. The Orange Notice also strongly recommends that INTERPOL’s member countries alert their relevant border authorities and specialist units responsible for fugitives.

INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said ‘never has a country alerted the international community so quickly’ following a jailbreak. He added that with jailbreaks by helicopter becoming a ‘far too common’ aspect worldwide, this case highlighted the importance of countries reporting the identity details of escapees as quickly as possible.

“Making key identification elements available as fast as possible to police officers on the ground is crucial to assisting them in protecting the public. It is vital that police have the information they need to locate, identify and arrest these fugitives,” said Mr Noble.

“The circulation of the Orange Notice for these dangerous individuals to all 187 INTERPOL member countries will also severely limit their movements and ability to travel across borders.”

“By alerting INTERPOL and requesting the Orange Notice in record time, the Belgian authorities are clearly doing their utmost to locate and arrest these dangerous criminals as quickly as possible and we can only commend them for the speed with which they shared information on the jailbreak,” concluded the head of INTERPOL.

INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support unit is now working closely with its Belgian counterparts to ensure all possible leads and information received from anywhere in the world can be processed and treated as a priority.