International police agency Interpol has pressed the delete button on all the information it has on the former employer of late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, saying a Russian search request for him was of a "political nature". Magnitsky died in prison in 2009 after revealing a massive fraud scheme. At the time he blew the whistle he was working for US-born British citizen William Browder, the biggest foreign investor in Russia in the past decade, who has now become a target for Russian authorities.

PARIS - The international police agency Interpol has rejected a Russian push to locate and arrest a Britain-based investor who is a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's regime. France-based Interpol said in a statement Friday it has "deleted all information in relation to William Browder." A special Interpol-related committee decided at a meeting Friday that "the case was of a predominantly political nature" and therefore Interpol shouldn't be involved in helping Russia pursue Browder. Browder, of Hermitage Capital investment fund, welcomed the decision.

By Timothy Heritage MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian protestors unfurled a huge banner demanding the release of "political prisoners" on Monday, at the start of a day of protest against President Vladimir Putin intended to revive their flagging opposition movement. The banner, declaring "Freedom for the May 6 prisoners!", rippled over three floors at the top of a high-rise apartment block on Novy Arbat, one of Moscow's busiest streets. It was quickly taken down and one man was arrested.

Russia has warned Ireland it could break off talks on cross-border adoptions if lawmakers press for sanctions against Russian officials implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, according to a letter obtained by AFP on Friday. The threat follows Moscow's decision to ban US adoptions of Russian orphans in retaliation for a recent US law freezing the assets and denying entry to America of those tied to Magnitsky's death in custody in 2009.