Islamic cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi was taken off wanted list after international police learned alleged crimes were fabricated by Egypt, NGO says.
Interpol has removed from its online wanted list
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the most prominent
religious leaders in the Middle East, according to
the Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR)
in the UK.
The International Police Organisation made the
move after it was discovered the crimes Qaradawi
was accused of were nothing more than a cover
for "political crimes" of opposing authorities in
Egypt - the country that requested the cleric be put
on the Interpol list in 2014, AOHR said in a
statement on Sunday.
Qaradawi, an Egyptian, lives in exile in Qatar.
"The decision by Interpol to remove the name of al-
Qaradawi and other names can be considered a
defeat to the Egyptian regime," said Mohamed
Jamil, president of AOHR.
"It has focused on killing Egyptians, executing wide-
scale arrest operations and forced disappearances,
extracting confessions using torture, which they
subsequently use against the prisoners in court
and to request 'red notices' from Interpol, in what
can only be termed a cheap abuse of a respected
organisation with a noble cause of fighting crime
worldwide."
Interpol held several discussions and exchanged
communications with AOHR about Qaradawi, the
statement said.
Qaradawi, 91, chairman of the International Union
of Islamic Scholars, was listed as wanted for
robbery, arson and murder committed after Egypt's
2013 military coup.
All the alleged crimes were later found to be
fabricated as they occurred during his absence
from Egypt, and could not have credibly been
committed by someone of his age and reputation,
AOHR said.
"Many countries, including the United Arab
Emirates to be specific, are behind the listing of al-
Qaradawi on this wanted list," said Jamil.
"When his name was published there was a
general state of euphoria in the Emirati media
followed by the Egyptian media, and others who
have always worked to demonise those opposed to
the Egyptian regime," he added.
"However, this happiness did not last long, for after
a while the truth has become apparent and things
will return to their rightful path.

FAULTY SYSTEM

Jamil also said Interpol sometimes exchanges
warrants with governments directly without
publishing them on its website.
"This is used widely by dictatorial regimes in a
blatant exploitation of this system in order to
apprehend individuals wanted for opposing these
regimes," he said.
Jamil called on the Interpol to stop this practice
and impose strict controls so governments could no
longer use it to pursue political opponents that they
had fabricated criminal charges against.
SOURCE:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/yusuf-al-qaradawi-removed-interpol-wanted-list-170910150600972.html