President Emmanuel Macron on Monday denied any political connection to the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, as the technology tycoon remained in French custody for a second day following his surprise arrest at a Paris airport.
Many questions have been raised about the timing and circumstances of Durov’s detention.
Sources familiar with the matter said Durov is accused of failing to stop the spread of illegal content on Telegram, which has more than 900 million users. The company has rejected the allegations.
Born to a family of academics in Soviet-era Leningrad (now known as St Petersburg), Durov spent his childhood in Italy and then created Russia’s biggest social network VKontakte (VK) at the age of 20. He founded Telegram after leaving Russia a decade ago, and Forbes magazine estimates his current wealth at $15.5 billion.
Writing on the X social media platform that he was addressing “false information” related to the case, Macron said Durov’s arrest “took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation.”
“This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide the matter,” he wrote, making a highly unusual comment on a legal matter.
Durov, 39, holds a French passport in addition to Russian citizenship.
– ‘nothing to hide’ –
According to a source close to the investigation, the investigating magistrate on Sunday extended Durov’s detention period. The initial detention period for interrogation can last up to 96 hours.
When this period expires, the magistrate will either release Durov or charge him and send him into custody.
A source close to the matter said Durov, who has been living in Dubai in recent years, arrived in Paris from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and was planning to have dinner in the French capital.
He also had a bodyguard and a personal assistant who always travelled with him, the source said on condition of anonymity.
A key question is why Durov came to France when he knew he was wanted in the country. “He probably thought he would not face any punishment,” said a source close to the case, who asked not to be named.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Baku on a state visit to Azerbaijan on August 18 and 19, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that any meeting took place between the two.
Durov is accused of failing to take action to curb criminal use of his platform.
Another source said France’s OFMIN office, which works to prevent violence against minors, has issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and inciting terrorism.
Telegram responded that “Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently to Europe.”
It added, “Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is within industry standards.”
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”
– ‘enforce the law’ –
Telegram has positioned itself as a “neutral” alternative to US-owned platforms, which have been criticised for commercial exploitation of users’ personal data.
It has also played an important role since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has been actively used by politicians and commentators on both sides of the war.
But critics often accuse it of hosting illegal content, ranging from extreme sexual depictions to misinformation and drug services.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Moscow had received no information from France about why Durov was detained, adding “we do not know concretely what Durov is accused of”.
Elon Musk, who heads the Tesla car group and X (formerly Twitter), posted the hashtag #FreePavel on his platform and commented in French, “Liberte Liberte! Liberte?” (Freedom Freedom! Freedom?).
Macron said that while France was “fully committed to freedom of expression and communication”, such freedoms had to be “maintained within the legal framework, both on social media and in real life”.
He said, “It is up to the judiciary to enforce the law with complete independence.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
