The world is at last paying attention to Russia's abuse of the global police agency

Today the world has dodged a bullet. At the Interpol General Assembly in Dubai this morning, the Russian candidate set to become its new president was surprisingly defeated.

It had been widely accepted that Alexander Prokopchuk, a Putin crony and Russian Interior Ministry officer, and the current vice-president of the global police body, would replace the current president, Meng Hongwei, who has been detained by Chinese authorities.

But on Wednesday, Interpol announced that Kim Jong-yang of South Korea was the chosen candidate.

To say that Mr Prokopchuk’s elevation to president of Interpol would have been a disaster would be an understatement.

Mr. Prokopchuk was personally responsible for issuing hundreds of 'red notices' and diffusion notices - essentially, international arrest warrants - against enemies of the Putin regime.

I have personal experience - I’ve been on the receiving end of seven Russian Interpol requests since advocating for the passage of the Magnitsky Act in the United States in 2012. The Magnitsky Act imposes visa sanctions and assets freezes on senior members of the Putin regime. Since the law was passed, Putin has been on a personal vendetta to have me arrested and extradited to Russia where I would face death in a Russian prison.