In the last post, I addressed the case of Mahmoud Ezzat, a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood who is believed to have fled Egypt and is wanted on charges listed as inciting murder and violence.  The focus of that post was whether INTERPOL would agree to issue a Red Notice, particularly in light of the possibly political elements of the request.

Earlier today, INTERPOL's press office responded to Red Notice Law Journal's request for confirmation of Egypt's request, and declined to comment on the matter based on the "speculative" nature of the subject news reports.

While INTERPOL frequently issues public statements regarding its refusal to become involved in certain fugitive cases, it is also well within its rights under its governing rules to make no comment about such cases.  Each member country of INTERPOL owns the data that is submitted to INTERPOL, and absent a few limited circumstances, the member countries have the discretion to allow for publication of their Red Notice requests, or to leave the requests secret, in hopes of catching a fugitive off guard.

In this case, however, Egypt has practically broadcast its intentions to seek a Red Notice against Mr. Ezzat, so INTERPOL's refusal to comment is probably not due to Egypt's desire to keep the matter under wraps.