PARIS: Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France as part of an ongoing judicial investigation, and there was no political motive, French President Macron said on Monday.
Macron’s statement on X amounted to the first official confirmation of Durov’s arrest, nearly two days since he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet from Azerbaijan.
The lack of official confirmation had led to speculation about the reasons behind his detention. Macron said he had read “false information here regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov,” adding France was deeply committed to free speech.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote. “This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide.”
A police spokesman told Reuters that Durov is under investigation by the national cyber crime and fraud offices for failing to cooperate over cyber and financial crimes on Telegram, a popular messaging and social media app akin to WhatsApp. He is still in custody, the spokesman said.
Reuters was unable to speak to any lawyer representing him.
Durov’s arrest prompted criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack, and calls from Moscow for French authorities to accord Durov
his rights.
Tensions between France and Russia have been mounting for months, with French authorities accusing Russia of trying to destabilize it ahead of the Paris Olympics in response to its more hawkish stance on the Ukraine war - claims Russia denies.
Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg” has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. Estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, Durov said in April some governments had sought to pressure him, but the app should remain a neutral platform and not a “player in geopolitics”.
Telegram gave no details of the arrest but said the Dubai-based company abided by European Union laws and its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving”.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” Telegram said in a statement. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.” When asked about his arrest, the Kremlin on Monday said it had yet to see any official French accusations against Durov.
“We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing.
“With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without (knowing), it would probably be wrong to make any statements,” Peskov said.
The Russian embassy in Paris said on X that French authorities had declined to cooperate with its requests for consular access, but said it was in contact with Durov’s lawyer. The embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
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