Grace Meng ist die Ehefrau des ehemaligen Interpol-Präsidenten Meng Hongwei, der Ende September in China verschwunden ist. In ihrem ersten Interview seit seinem Verschwinden erzählt sie, dass sie einen Anruf erhalten habe, wonach Agenten auch hinter ihr her seien. Trotzdem sagte sie, dass sie auch weiter um Informationen über den Verbleib ihres Mannes kämpfen würde. Ebenfalls wies sie die Korruptionsvorwürfe gegen ihren Mann zurück und erklärte, dass ihr Reden über sein Verschwinden sie in grosse Gefahr bringe.

Byline: Laura Zimmermann

Location: Lyon Frankreich

Notes:

AP reporter talks about interview with wife of ex-Interpol president

SHOTLIST:

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Lyon - 9 October 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) John Leicester, AP Correspondent:

"These are the headquarters of the International Police Agency, Interpol. This agency was led until Sunday by a Chinese policeman, Mr. Meng Hongwei. For the first time his wife has given a one-to-one interview to The Associated Press. She has been talking about her husband's disappearance. He went back on a trip to China late last month and hasn't been heard from since. The first word that came out about his fate was just a few days ago when the Chinese authorities announced that his is now under investigation for alleged bribery."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) John Leicester, AP Correspondent:

"It's quite remarkable for somebody like Grace Meng, this is the wife of Mr Meng Hongwei, to come forward like this. She has been a long time member of the Chinese elite. Her husband was a senior member of the security apparatus and it's the same apparatus that he now seems to have fallen victim to. She feels that she's living under great danger.  She feels that speaking out is putting her and her children in danger and as proof of that, she's now living in France under French police protection. This was after she received a threatening phone call at home here in France."

++BLACK FRAMES++

3 . SOUNDBITE (English) John Leicester, AP Correspondent:

"Well, really one of things that's remarkable about this is that when China succeeded in getting one of its career policemen as the head of Interpol, this was seen as something of a triumph - a triumph for China's efforts to become a real player on the global stage. And so then now to suddenly make the head of Interpol effectively vanish, I mean, disappear on a trip back to China, that essentially seems to be saying that China doesn't really care about the damage that that is doing to its own reputation."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Leicester, AP Correspondent:

"So Mr Meng has been the president of Interpol since 2016, working between here in France and China, going back and forth for the last two years with colleagues in this building behind us, but what is kind of remarkable is that there has been a very muted reaction from Interpol, the organisation that he has been heading - basically just a few statements, the first saying that there were concerns for his wellbeing and trying to find out some information, and the second announcing that he had resigned. What's not known is whether or not he did so of his own accord given that he's being detained in China."

++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

STORYLINE:

The wife of the former Interpol president who disappeared in China revealed that she had received a threatening phone call warning of agents coming for her - but said she would keep fighting for information about her husband's fate.

In her first one-on-one interview since Meng Hongwei went missing, Grace Meng denied bribery allegations against her high-profile husband, and told The Associated Press that speaking out about his disappearance was placing her "in great danger."

Meng Hongwei - who is also China's vice minister of public security - vanished while on a trip home to China late last month.

A long-time Communist Party insider with decades of experience in China's sprawling security apparatus, the 64-year-old is the latest high-ranking official to fall victim to a sweeping purge against allegedly corrupt or disloyal officials under President Xi Jinping's authoritarian administration.

Speaking to the AP late Monday at a hotel in Lyon, France, where Interpol is based, Grace Meng said her husband had been gone for more than a week on a trip to China when she got a threatening call on her mobile phone from a man speaking in Mandarin.

In a debrief interview, AP correspondent John Leicester said it was remarkable for Grace Meng to come forward.

"She feels that she's now living under great danger," he said.

He added that the disappearance of Meng Hongwei while on a trip to China showed that China "didn't really care" about the damage it was doing to its reputation around the world.

Type: Raw