Charlie Magri appears in Wanted: The Interpol Files, a BBC Eye Investigations documentary produced as part of a joint investigation with the French investigative outlet Disclose. Both the film and Disclose’s written series (Interpol Files) are based on the same leak of internal INTERPOL documents and examine how INTERPOL mechanisms can be misused by authoritarian regimes.
The documentary shows how Red Notices, diffusions, and the INTERPOL messaging system can be used to target journalists, activists, and business figures abroad, often presented as ordinary criminal cases. It also highlights the serious consequences these measures can have on individuals, including arrest, detention, travel risks, and long-term disruption to personal and professional life.
Charlie Magri, founder of Otherside, was invited to provide legal analysis on the system’s structural limits. In the documentary, he highlights the tension between preventing misuse and maintaining cooperation among 196 member countries.
He also addresses transparency, a theme developed in Disclose’s written reporting, noting the limits of the data currently made public:
“INTERPOL only publishes basic statistics. It’s only the number of notices requested and the number of notices cancelled or refused. But there is no breakdown by country.”
The BBC reports that the leaked material includes a list of complaints sent to the CCF. Although the dataset is not complete, it is reported to indicate that Russia has been the leading source country for such complaints over the past 11 years.
The documentary also examines the limits of existing safeguards. INTERPOL publicly announced in March 2022 that it had introduced heightened supervision and monitoring measures in relation to Russia. The BBC and Disclose report that, despite these measures, approximately 90% of Russia’s requests were still passing initial checks in 2024, while the CCF was overturning roughly half of the Russian requests it received complaints about.
The investigation further indicates that, in 2025, some of the corrective measures applied to Russia were quietly eased or lifted, although the scope of this change remains unclear.
The documentary was broadcast by the BBC on 26 January 2026 and is available on the BBC’s official YouTube channel and BBC platforms.
