Dallas, U.S.A-From its headquarters in Lyon, France, INTERPOL’s police network spans its 190 member countries enabling it to consistently assist in the pursuit of fugitives for both high profile and lesser-known crimes. As a result of years of films and novels glamorizing INTERPOL agents as fast-draw superheroes, there is still some public confusion regarding what they do and how they do it.

One of INTERPOL’s most effective “tools” is the Red Notice, which has assisted in the apprehension of thousands of wanted persons this past year.Last month, Luka Magnotta was charged with murdering his former lover, Jun Lin, in Montreal, Canada, and mailing body parts to the Canadian Prime Minister and schools around that country. Canadian police identified Magnotta as the probable killer and issued their warrant for his arrest copying INTERPOL through its National Central Bureau in Ottawa.

Hours later, the warrant seeking Magnotta’s arrest had been reviewed by INTERPOL, translated into INTERPOL’s four official languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic), attached to a Red Notice and electronically circulated to all 190 INTERPOL members. The Red Color of INTERPOL’s emblem on the Notice signals police to stop the person and determine if their national laws will permit the fugitive to be detained until Canada can seek his formal extradition.

When you operate in 190 countries with different legal systems, languages and relationships with one another, you must have a system that is easy to understand and use. The system must also respect the sovereign right of each member country to decide if and how it wishes to cooperate with judicial authorities and police of another country.  For this reason, the INTERPOL Red Notice is not an arrest warrant and is not binding on an INTERPOL member country unless that country decides to make it binding.
Its purpose is to provide countries with information to protect their borders and citizens from fugitives seeking to enter their country while being hunted internationally. The Red Notice has been described as a Wanted Poster with teeth that appears around the world in minutes and includes a picture of the accused, a description of the offense, a supporting arrest warrant and a commitment by the country requesting it to seek the extradition of the person sought.

Magnotta had flown from Montreal to Paris before authorities were aware of his crime, so he was not stopped at either airport as he would have been had the Red Notice been distributed before his attempted flight. Meanwhile, because of the sensational nature of the crime, the story reached the public through media reports even as police in many countries searched.Two days later, Magnotta, who had arrived by bus, visited an Internet cafe in Berlin. The cafe’s owner and other customers immediately recognized him. Police were called and he was in custody in a matter of minutes. ”Public awareness and public support for police in the search for any criminal is perhaps the most important advantage our society maintains, whether hunting terrorists or those accused of individual horrendous crimes like Magnotta,” said INTERPOL’s Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble.

Meanwhile, 5,700 miles from Germany in Cambodia, Alexander Tro­fimov, a Russian national, was being arrested by authorities responding to a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL at the request of Russia. Trofimov, a known pedophile, was wanted by Russia for sex crimes against children.

Former Colombian model Angie Sanclemente Valencia, also the subject of a Red Notice, was suspected of recruiting young women to smuggle cocaine from Argentina to Europe via Mexico. She was arrested in Buenos Aires by Argentinean police after INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit, working with police in Buenos Aires, Bogota and Mexico City, provided information to Argentinean police on her whereabouts and travel plans. After her arrest, INTERPOL’s Secretary-General Noble said, “This case has proven to be a perfect model of international police co-operation, combining action by our National Central Bureaus on the ground and our ability to instantly share information on wanted persons via our Fugitive Unit at our Lyon headquarters.”

INTERPOL will issue Red Notices only “if it is satisfied that all the conditions for processing the information have been fulfilled.” For example, a Notice will not be published if it violates Article 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, forbidding any intervention or activities of a predominantly “political, military, religious or racial character.”

This past year, INTERPOL declined a request by Egypt to issue Red Notices for 15 individuals – 12 American, 2 Lebanese and 1 Jordanian national – with links to several US-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) after ruling that Egypt’s request was a political matter.

In 2011, 7,958 persons were arrested or detained following the publication of INTERPOL Notices. Among the notable successes were:

-Joran Van der Sloot, a Dutch national suspected in Aruba in the case of the missing American Natalee Holloway. He was arrested in Chile after circulation of a Red Notice based on warrants issued by Peru and the United States. His transfer in custody wearing an INTERPOL flak jacket was seen worldwide.

-Austrian police arrested and extradited Ali Achekzai, an Afghani national, based on a Red Notice and INTERPOL’s matching of a DNA linking him to violent sexual attacks in California over a seven-year period.

-Dragan Vasiljkovic, a suspected Bosnian war criminal and the subject of a Red Notice issued at the request of Croatia, was arrested in Australia and extradited.

“People must remember that INTERPOL’s strength comes from countries where fugitives have fled alerting police worldwide via INTERPOL Red Notices to use their national powers and judicial authorities to identify, locate and detain these dangerous fugitives before they can do more harm or escape justice. All too often, local authorities don’t get enough credit for their outstanding law enforcement work,” says Secretary-General Noble.

Image Courtesy of  Interpol

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On Friday, Interpol issued arrest warrants for Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam as well as his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. And it is not just international forces who want the elusive former leader behind bars.

The new rulers in Libya has according to Huffington Post dedicated a special unit to the hunt of Gaddafi — using phone tapping, satellite images and witness accounts to pinpoint his position. The Libyan dictator went underground after Aug 21 when rebels swept into Tripoli but has not been seen in public for several months ahead of this event.

His disappearance is a major issue to Libyans and many western leaders and rumors of his whereabouts have put him on several locations both in and outside the country. Gaddafi himself claims to remain in Libya through audio broadcast and seems unwilling to face defeat.

Meanwhile, anti-Gaddafi forces are rounding up their former political opponents — most importantly the former Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim, according to Sky News. Khaled Kaim was one of the faces of Gaddafi’s regime and also one of those who denied that Arab Spring was sweeping through the people of Libya, calling the uprising the work of islamists and terrorists.

Kaim is now staying at a high security detention centre in Tripoli where he continues to refuse realities Kaim told Sky News reporter Lisa Holland that he had received a death threat from someone inside the regime shortly before it collapsed because “he was pulling away from them.”

He insisted that he was simply a mouthpiece to the Colonel: “Making a press conference doesn’t mean that you’re saying your own opinion,” he explained While former government strongmen try to salvage their political careers, the anti-Gaddafi fighters continue their operation to find the dictator.

One fighter participated in a raid last week where they believed Gaddafi was staying. The fighter, who spoke to The Huffington Post under the condition of anonymity, said that Gaddafi had “escaped less than an hour before the raid through a secret tunnel. Computers were on and cups of tea were still warm.”

NATO, who has plenty of intelligence collection measures in the area were suggested as a possible partner to the Libyan tracking mission. However, both NATO and Libyan officials has declined that the alliance will make a difference in the hunt for Gaddafi. Still, some of the rebel’s allies continue to contribute where they can.

For example, reports say that small CIA teams, as well as a number of British and French special operation advisors, are prepared to help the former rebels in their search. When or if Gaddafi is caught, the International Criminal Court prosecutor wants to see the former leader held accountable “for the serious criminal charges that have been brought against him.”

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/chavezcandanga/

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Also this summer Europe is waiting for the annual edition of the Sziget Festival to come. Among the largest European music and cultural festivals, Sziget Festival is held annually in August in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, at Obuda Island on the Danube River.

For an entire week, from 8^th to 15^th of August, more than 1000 shows and performances will be held on this party island not far from the city center. A blend of music, theater, dance, visual arts, and much more will welcome almost 400.000 visitors coming from all around Europe.

From pop to rock, from folk to electro, and then metal, blues, world music, techno, hip hop, afro, reggae, alternative, jazz as well as other genres will alternate and mix over seven days of uninterrupted music and partying, delighting around 80.000 visitors per day.

Since the first edition in 1993, the Sziget Festival has become one of the favourite destinations for music and festival lovers of Europe and it also managed to attain a worldwide popularity which is constantly increasing. Over the past 18 years, the world’s greatest artists performed at the festival attracting fans that came throughout the European continent.

Among the bands we can mention Iron Maiden, Buena Vista Social Club, Sonic Youth, Korn, Faith No More, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Rammstein, Faithless, Placebo, Morcheeba, Massive Attack, The Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead, The Prodigy, R.E.M, Sex Pistols, Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz Sound System, Muse, Oasis and many others.

Among the singers David Bowie, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Coolio, Nick Cave, Alanis Morissette, Robert Plant , Eagle Eye Cherry, Omara Portuondo, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Manu Chao, Sinéad O’Connor, Natalie Imbruglia, Pink, Lilly Allen, Nouvelle Vague, and Tricky.

This year will be the 19^th edition of the festival and other great performances are awaited from thousands of fans. Some of the most resonant names of the world’s musical scene together with less-known and alternative artists from various countries will alternate on the several stages sited all around the 108 hectares island of Obuda. A collection of different stages from the Pop-Rock Main Stage to the World Music Main Stage, from the A38-WAN2 Stage to the Rock-Metal Stage, from the Party Arena to the Reggae Stage and World Village, and from the newest Europe Stage to many and many others.

Some of the main artists performing at the Sziget Festival 2011 will be Prince, Gotan Project, Skunk Anansie, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Kate Nash, 30 Seconds to Mars, Kasabian, 2 Many DJ’s, Judas Priest, Good Charlotte, Interpol, The National, Dizzee Rascal, Richie Hawtin, Manic Street Preachers, Goran Bregovic and The Wedding and Funeral Band, Gogol Bordello, Hadounken!, and also Pulp.  Many others, the less popular ones, are just to be known and discovered by all music lovers.

Besides the music there is much more to enjoy, for example theater performances, visual performative and literary arts, outdoor activities and sports. It’s like an entire world within an island, a city in the city on the Danube, the largest river of Europe.

For the ones who don’t want to miss even a minute of the festival and want to immerse themselves deeply  in its magical atmosphere, it’s possible to buy a camping ticket and camp on the island for the whole week. You just need to bring a tent and you may take advantage of the camping facilities. For the ones who want to enjoy the city as well there is the non-camping ticket which enable you to join all the concerts and shows and to freely go around the island. For those who want only to follow their favourite artist there is the day ticket that gives you access to the festival only for one day.

Are you craving for an unforgettable experience? Just go to Sziget Festival!

Image Courtesy of http://musica.tuttogratis.it/

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