BEIJING — Chinese state media said former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei admitted Thursday that he accepted more than $2 million in bribes, culminating a trial in northern China that was criticized by human rights activists.
In September, after traveling to China from Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France, Meng abruptly vanished, causing his wife to frantically contact French authorities for help.
Chinese authorities later said they had detained him and were prosecuting him for taking bribes and abusing his power to “willfully squander national assets to give his family a luxurious life.”
The People’s Daily newspaper, a mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, said Thursday that Meng was accused of using various positions he held from 2005 to 2017 to help companies and individuals make illegal gains and of accepting bribes equivalent to more than $2 million.
The newspaper said Meng admitted guilt on all charges at a trial in the northern city of Tianjin. The court adjourned and said Meng would be sentenced at a later date, the paper said. The court released photos of Meng standing in a tan jacket in court, looking thinner than usual.
“No case that starts with a person’s disappearance, and then involves being held incommunicado, not having the lawyer of your choice, and likely being coerced into confessing, can be considered a fair trial, and this is a sadly common problem in China,” Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said by email Thursday.
“But this prosecution of Meng Hongwei is doubly problematic, in that he will now almost certainly never be held accountable for the countless people, including rights activists, whose arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment he oversaw in China’s Ministry of Public Security,” Richardson added.
Meng and his wife could not be reached for comment.
During a multiyear campaign that Beijing has described as an anti-corruption drive under President Xi Jinping, thousands of officials and business executives have suddenly vanished before reemerging to face government charges months later.
Meng had been expected to serve in his Interpol role until 2020.
Interpol, an international organization that facilitates police cooperation across borders, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
In a statement after Meng’s disappearance last year, Interpol said only that it was a “matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China” and declined to elaborate.
