Ben Keith on Free Speech and INTERPOL Abuse at the ECBA Spring Conference in Barcelona

Ben Keith on Free Speech and INTERPOL Abuse at the ECBA Spring Conference in Barcelona

Ben Keith joined the freedom of speech panel at the European Criminal Bar Association’s Spring Conference in Barcelona on 25 April 2026, alongside chair Katarzyna Dabrowska, Jaantje Kramer, Christophe Marchand and Benet Salellas i Vilar. The conference opened the previous day at the Barcelona Bar Association (Il·lustre Col·legi de l’Advocacia de Barcelona). The panel pulled the discussion squarely into transnational repression and the abuse of INTERPOL systems by autocratic regimes.

The freedom of speech session was structured around the practical experience of defence lawyers in five Council of Europe jurisdictions:

• Chair: Katarzyna Dabrowska
• Ben Keith, IHR Advisors / 5 St Andrew’s Hill
• Jaantje Kramer
• Christophe Marchand
• Benet Salellas i Vilar

What the panel argued: free speech, INTERPOL abuse and transnational repression

Transnational repression is the practice of authoritarian states reaching beyond their borders to silence, surveil, harass or detain critics. That theme ran through every example the panel raised. Governments that previously tolerated dissent are deploying new instruments to punish it: terrorism charges attached to protest organisers, extradition requests filed against political opponents, and INTERPOL Red Notices and Diffusions issued against journalists and activists who have already obtained refugee status in safe countries.

Three regimes recurred in the discussion. Russia continues to use INTERPOL channels to chase exiled journalists and Kremlin critics, despite repeated public statements from the organisation that politically motivated requests will be refused. Türkiye’s pattern is similar but broader, targeting alleged Gülen-movement defendants, Kurdish journalists and criminal-defence lawyers themselves. Bahrain’s record, documented in successive decisions of the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, is the issuance of Red Notices against opposition figures and human-rights defenders abroad.

The conversation produced concrete proposals for reform. Greater transparency from the CCF over the reasoning behind its admissibility and merits decisions would help. Clearer procedural rights for requested persons at the National Central Bureau stage would help more. A standing mechanism for monitoring repeat-offender member states is the structural fix that has been discussed within the Red Notice reform community for over a decade and is still resisted.

How IHR Advisors can help

IHR Advisors acts for business people, journalists, dissidents and political opponents subject to politically motivated Red Notices and Diffusions, and represents requested persons in extradition proceedings across the United Kingdom and Europe. Our work centres on submissions to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, removal of unlawful notices, and a parallel asylum or non-refoulement strategy where extradition is imminent. Where the targeting state is a serial offender, we also advise on sanctions and human-rights mechanisms under international law, including UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention submissions and Magnitsky-style designations.

Transnational repression is a system problem. Pushing back on it requires both legal action in individual cases and structural reform of the cooperation channels that are being abused.

With thanks to María Barbancho and Antoaneta Roman for organising, and to Vânia Costa Ramos for chairing. The ECBA also used the conference to launch its redesigned website, which carries a new ‘Find a lawyer’ directory of European criminal-defence practitioners. Full details at www.ecba.org.

Contact us for confidential advice on INTERPOL Red Notices, extradition or transnational repression.