China indicts former Interpol chief on bribery charges

BEIJING – Chinese prosecutors have indicted former Interpol president Meng Hongwei on charges of accepting bribes.

The announcement Friday from the prosecutor's office in the northeastern city of Tianjin gave few details.

Meng was formally arrested last month after being expelled from public office and the ruling Communist Party.

Meng was elected president of the international police organization in 2016, but his four-year term was cut short when he vanished after traveling to China from France in October. Interpol was not informed and was forced to make a formal request to China for information about Meng's whereabouts.

There are suspicions he had fallen out of political favor with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Meng's wife has accused Chinese authorities of lying and questioned whether her husband was still alive.