Sajid Javid has urged Interpol to prevent the "abuse" of its network by states targeting dissidents, following the arrest a prominent British critic of Vladimir Putin at the behest of Moscow.

The Home Secretary intervened after Bill Browder, a campaigner against Russian human rights abuses, was arrested by Spanish police in response to a Russian order distributed using the policing body's databases.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Mr Javid's officials raised formal concerns with the body earlier this summer after Mr Browder's detention in Madrid while preparing to give evidence about corrupt money flowing into the country.

His intervention follows similar concerns raised publicly by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, last year after Turkey used an Interpol arrest warrant to detain a German writer in Spain.

In a letter to MPs, seen by this newspaper, Mr Javid said he took the issue "very seriously" and that "concerns about such abuses are not limited to the Russian Federation."

Mr Javid said he was "working with Interpol to ensure the right systems are in place to protect individuals' rights" and uphold the body's constitution, which prevents "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."

His comments came in response to a letter from a group of MPs, led by Richard Benyon, a Conservative member of Parliament's intelligence and security committee, and Ian Austin, a former Labour minister, who wrote to Mr Javid in July, following Mr Browder's arrest on May 30.