A man has been arrested in the Costa del Sol under an Interpol arrest warrant which claims he is a known terrorist.
The 33-year-old Turkmenistan national was located in Velez-Malaga before being nabbed by intelligence officers on Wednesday, March 15.
The Interpol arrest warrant, dating from May 12, 2021, claims the man is wanted in his home country for leading an organisation involved in terrorist recruitment, financing and planning.
According to information provided to Interpol, the individual led a terrorist organisation in 2010 that sought to overthrow the government of Turkmenistan.
This would put his age at 20 at the time of the alleged offences.
He is alleged to have made public calls for citizens to take power by force and through extremist actions.
Spanish law enforcement previously arrested American-British financier Bill Browder on an Interpol red notice ordered by Russia in 2018.
A flurry of diplomatic phone calls quickly secured Browder’s freedom and an apology from Spanish prosecutor Jose Grinda.
The action was considered an abuse of the Interpol red notice system by Russian law enforcement, which were using it to go after critics and anti-corruption campaigners beyond their jurisdiction.
Turkmenistan is a well-known corrupt and repressive dictatorship that has been ruled by the same political party since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, who only came to power last year, stepped into his father’s shoes to run the country after he gave up power on a 16 year reign.
Last year, Transparency International ranked Turkmenistan as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, coming 167th out of 180 countries.
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