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French prosecutors said on Monday that Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraudulent transactions on the platform.
TakeAway Points:
- The French authorities have stated that Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging service Telegram, was detained there as part of an investigation into offences including child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraudulent transactions on the network.
- Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has also mentioned that there is no political motive in the arrest, despite many false comments online.
- A statement by Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau added that Durov can be held until Wednesday.
Why Pavel Durov was arrested
French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first official confirmation of Durov’s arrest since he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, said there was no political motive in the arrest, despite many false comments online. He added that France remains deeply committed to lawful free speech.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory 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,” Macron wrote on X.
In a subsequent statement, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Durov was arrested as part of a probe into an unnamed person launched by the office’s cybercrime unit on July 8.
The investigation is over suspected complicity in various crimes, including running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering, and providing cryptographic services to criminals, the statement said.
It further added that Durov can be held until Wednesday.
Telegram is a popular messaging and social media app akin to WhatsApp. The encrypted application, with close to 1 billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine, and the republics of the former Soviet Union.
Raising concerns about free speech in Europe
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, which Russia denies.
Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg,” has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship.
The UAE foreign ministry, in its first comment, said in a statement that it had submitted a request to France “to provide him with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner.”
Estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, Durov said in April that 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.”
On Monday, the Kremlin said it had yet to see any official French accusations against Durov.
“We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of. With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without (knowing), it would probably be wrong to make any statements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing.
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.
