Interpol issues 'red notice' to US diplomat's wife for provisional arrest charged in UK

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has reportedly issued a Red Notice for the arrest of a US diplomat's wife, who was charged for killing a British teen in a car accident last year. Anne Sacoolas had claimed diplomatic immunity after she returned to the US following the killing of Harry Dunn with her car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27, 2019, as per media reports. 

Sacoolas' husband is an American intelligence official working at a US military base in central England. However, she was charged by Britain's Crown Prosecution Service with causing death by dangerous driving, according to reports. Red Notices are issued by the Interpol against the fugitives who are wanted by the law either for prosecution or to serve a sentence. Further, the notice implies a request to the law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest the person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action, Interpol explained on its official website. 

A spokesman for Dunn's family, Radd Seiger, wrote on Twitter that police in Northamptonshire had issued an Interpol red notice for Sacoolas to be "circulated worldwide”. He added saying, “This means she did not have diplomatic immunity at the time of Dunn's death and would be arrested should she attempt to leave the USA. It is time for her to come back to the UK and, on behalf of the family, I urge the authorities in both London and Washington to make that happen. It is time to do the right thing,” Sieger wrote. 

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UK blamed "denial of justice"

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted by a leading UK media outlet as saying that the British government believed that Sacoolas should return to face justice. Johnson's spokesperson repeated that the government's position that the decision not to extradite her was a "denial of justice". She should return to the UK, which has been made clear to the US, including by the Prime Minister to President Donald Trump, he reportedly warned.  

However, as per US media reports, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had rejected an extradition request from the UK Home Office in the month of January, which triggered a bitter reaction from the UK. A state department spokesperson said while speaking at a press conference, that Secretary Pompeo's decision in that regard was final. And if the United States had granted the UK’s extradition request, it would have rendered the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would have set an extraordinarily troubling precedent, he added.  

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