The question of maintaining Interpol’s world headquarters in France arises again, when General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi has just been elected to the presidency of the international organization. The specter of the departure of the general secretariat, located in Lyon since 1989, worries local elected officials. The new president of Interpol could be the subject of prosecution and arrest warrants, for complaints filed in France for human rights abuses, which would complicate his travels and stays in Lyon. Several Lyonnais elected officials suspect the government of having played a double game, leaving the vagueness of the financing of essential building extension work, while the arrival of a very disputed character at the symbolic head of the international police organization.
” It’s possible that [Gérald] Darmanin wanted to put the hat on the departure of Interpol from France [aux] environmentalists, while he knew perfectly well the troubled role of France in the election of the president of the organization ”, reacted aside Bruno Bernard, the president (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, EELV) of the Metropolis of Lyon, learning of the election of General Al-Raisi Thursday morning. For him, the Minister of the Interior has voluntarily postponed the financing of the extension of the seat, while knowing the possibility of his outright departure from France. This prospect is evoked by Mr. Darmanin, in a letter of October 26, 2021 addressed to the elected officials of Lyon, that The world was able to consult. “Faced with the difficulties in formalizing the French commitment, several countries, in particular the United Arab Emirates, have positioned themselves to finance and host the executive management of the police services, the heart of the organization’s activities”, writes the French minister. The prospect of the election of the Emirati candidate was visibly recorded.
In the same letter, the minister informed that the State plans to cover a third of the cost of the extension desired by Interpol in Lyon. However, this proposal is much lower than a commitment made in March 2018 in a letter from the Rhône prefecture to David Kimelfeld, Bruno Bernard’s predecessor. The prefect announced a state participation of 50% of the cost of the extension. Lyon’s elected officials have been asking for more than five years for clarifications on the share of State funding. “Yes, I am attached to the presence of Interpol in Lyon. I only commit public money to a clear plan ”, solemnly declared Grégory Doucet, mayor of Lyon (EELV), in the preamble of the municipal council, on November 18. “The ball is in the court of the State, which must specify its financial commitment”, added the elected, six days after a tripartite meeting (metropolis, region, town hall), around the prefect Pascal Mailhos.
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