LYON, France – INTERPOL announces that it has cancelled and deleted the Red Notices – or international wanted persons alerts – regarding Rafat Ali Rizvi (a citizen of the United Kingdom) and Hesham Talaat Mohammed Besheer al-Warraq (a citizen of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). This action follows INTERPOL’s consideration of matters relating to Mr Rizvi and Mr al-Warraq, including the decision of an arbitration tribunal in a case brought by Mr al-Warraq against the Republic of Indonesia under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
As a result of the cancellation and deletion of the Red Notices, no member country of INTERPOL may henceforth use INTERPOL channels with respect to the matters raised in the Red Notices originally issued against Mr Rizvi and Mr al-Warraq. All INTERPOL member countries have been informed and requested to update all internal and public databases maintained by them so as to remove reference to the Red Notices previously issued against Mr Rizvi and Mr al-Warraq.
Red Notices are one of the ways in which INTERPOL informs its member countries that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authority and seeks the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action. Individuals named in a Red Notice are wanted by national jurisdictions and INTERPOL’s role is to assist national police forces in identifying or locating those individuals with a view to their arrest and extradition.
A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, and INTERPOL cannot compel any member country to arrest the subject of a Red Notice or take any other action with regard to a Red Notice.
INTERPOL does not have authority to arrest individuals who are the subject of a Red Notice. Only the law enforcement authorities of the INTERPOL member country where the individual is located have the legal authority to make an arrest.