Speaking in Lyon, France, at the international police organization’s headquarters, Grace Meng, wife of the former Interpol chief, said the last message she received from her husband before his September 25 disappearance, was a single knife emoji.
READ MORE: Chinese Authorities Suspect Interpol President of Corruption – Reports
“This matter belongs to the international community,“ Meng told a press conference in English, scrolling her phone in front of the cameras.
According to Meng, she last heard from her husband after he left Lyon headed for China. On the same day, she received a message in Chinese telling her to “wait for my call” and then an emoji which she interpreted as the sign that her husband’s life was in danger.
“I'm not sure what has happened to him,” she said. She also refused to be photographed due to fear for herself and their children.
A Chinese anti-corruption Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a brief online statement that “Public Security Ministry Vice Minister Meng Hongwei is currently under investigation by the National Supervisory Commission for suspected violations of law,” Reuters reported on Sunday.
Interpol said later that Meng had resigned as chief of the organization and that South Korean national Kim Jong Yang would become the acting president. The new Interpol chief will be officially appointed at a meeting of the organization in Dubai on November 18-21.