Tribune. Interpol headquarters did not arrive in Lyon [Rhône] by chance. For thirty-two years, the International Criminal Police Organization and the capital of Gaul have known shared destinies. We can even say that Interpol was the first step in raising awareness which should lead the Lyonnais to believe once again in their international aspiration.
Obviously, the living environment, accessibility and charm of the city were decisive. But it should also be remembered that everything in the history of this city predisposed it to endorse such an ambition. On February 15, 1985, the international community was unanimous in favor of cosmopolitan Lyon, which has always made its crossbreeding its richness and its ability to combine languages and cultures.
The Lyon of Locard and Laccassagne
It is also the police Lyon which is chosen, that of the excellence of criminology and of the scientific and technical police of Alexandre Lacassagne. [1843-1924] and Edmond Locard [1877-1966], like that of the School of Police Commissioners of Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or.
And then, undoubtedly, in the unconscious of the world called upon to choose the location of the organization, it is necessary to pay off a great debt towards this city. This claim was born from the obstinate and repeated refusal by Interpol to the numerous requests of judge Christian Riss in charge of finding and putting on trial Klaus Barbie, SS butcher of this city for two years, between 1942 and 1944.
When Lyon became the seat of this institution, France had to fend for itself to find the former Nazi, then imprisoned a few kilometers of the former Lyon Fair where the monumental Interpol cube must stand. It was also undoubtedly a question of washing away this affront.
After the absurd and dishonorable kidnapping of the former Chinese holder of Interpol [Meng Hongwei], recalled in China before being imprisoned there, it is today a new affront which risks to carry this venerable institution. Indeed, the choice of its future president seems to fall on General Nasser Ahmed Al-Raisi, candidate of the United Arab Emirates and, for the time being, the only declared candidate.
An administration of torturers
This prospect has an appearance, that of a police chief of a country allied with France who has just written a big check to the Interpol budget. It also has a reality, that of an inspector general of the police accused by journalists and human rights defenders of being at the head of an administration of torturers whose practices are at odds with rules and ethics. and the functioning of a dignified and respectable police force.
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