Interpol has congratulated Cambodian police on the arrest of Russian pedophile Stanislav Molodyakov, who is on Interpol’s “red notice” list of wanted persons and sought by Russian authorities for the violent sexual abuse of three underage girls.
“The arrest by Cambodian police of a Russian man wanted in connection with child sex crime offences and the target of an INTERPOL fugitive operation has been welcomed by the world police organization,” it said in a statement Tuesday.
“Stanislav Molodyakov, also known as Alexander Trofimov, was among 60 suspects wanted in connection with child sex offenses targeted by Operation Infra-SEA…launched from INTERPOL’s Liaison Office in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this year.” it continues.
Interpol’s “red notice” list is comprised of fugitive criminals whose arrest is sought “with a view to extradition.”
Senior police and government officials said yesterday that Molodyakov will be extradited to Russia as soon as the necessary travel documents were prepared by the Russian Embassy in Phnom Penh.
“We’ll kick him out,” said Deputy National Police chief Lieutenant General Sok Phal, “His travel documents, passport and visa were thrown away, so we’re waiting for the embassy to make a new passport.”
Addressing the concerns of anti-pedophile NGOs that the serial child abuser would remain a threat if he were merely deported from Cambodia and not extradited to Russia to face trial there, Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said Russian authorities would personally accompany Modolyakov back to his native country.
“He won’t be allowed to be in any other countries,” he said. “They [Russian authorities] also have a warrant to arrest him in Russia.”
On an order from the Interior Ministry calling for his expulsion from Cambodia, Molodyakov was arrested Monday morning in Kandal province’s Ponhea Leu commune where he had been staying with a Cambodian family, including a young girl.
On the day of the arrest, National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith said he suspected that Molodyakov had abused the girl, who he guessed to be about 11 or 12 years old.
The arrest comes less than six months after he received a royal pardon, having served out only half of an eight-year sentence for sexually abusing 15 Cambodian children.
Outraged by Molodyakov’s early release, 14 rights groups signed a petition calling for the government to honor a 2009 extradition request from Russia, where he is wanted by a court in the city of Mytischi for perpetrating “violent acts of a sexual nature” against two 11-year-old girls and a 10-year-old girl.
An official from the Russian Embassy declined to comment. An assistant at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press department in Moscow also declined to comment.
Lieutenant General Keo Vanthan, Director of Interpol’s Cambodian Office, referred questions back to Mr. Chantharith.
At the time of his initial arrest in 2007, Molodyakov was executive director of the Koh Puos Investment Group, the company developing a multi-million dollar island resort off the coast of Sihanoukville.
