Russia calls Telegram founder a 'political prisoner' after arrest in France

Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at an airport in Paris Saturday after getting off his private jet, according to French media reports.

The billionaire Russian exile was arrested at around 8 p.m. at Le Bourget airport by French cops after flying in from Azerbaijan, French outlet TF1 Info reported.

French authorities had issued a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into Durov — a staunch free speech advocate — and his encrypted messaging app, which has some 900 million users worldwide.

Law enforcement believes that Telegram’s lack of moderation and the tools it offers, such as cryptocurrencies, make it complicit in global drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud. But the search warrant was only valid if Durov stepped foot on French soil.

“He made a blunder this evening. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody,” a source close to the investigation told TF1.

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Durov, 39, is a Russian-born tech entrepreneur best known for founding the social networking site VK (VKontakte) and the messaging app Telegram. 

He lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and is also a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, according to Fortune.

Durov founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother Nikolai, but fled Russia in 2014 after he refused to hand over encrypted user data to Russian officials or silence communities opposing the government, which he later sold.

Durov decided to live in self-imposed exile, stating that when he left, Russia was “incompatible with internet business at the moment,” according to The Sun.

During an interview with Tucker Carlson in April, Durov said he fled Russia because he didn’t want to take orders seemingly from the Russian government.

“I understood that I would rather be free. I wouldn’t want to take orders from anyone and I left behind probably a comfortable life,” Durov said.

“For me it was never about becoming rich. For me everything in my life was about becoming free, and to an extent it is possible, my mission in life was to allow other people to also become free.”

In 2018, Russia blocked Telegram when the app refused to comply with a court order and share its encryption keys. The ban was lifted in 2020.
 

The arrest of @Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 25, 2024

Durov is worth an estimated $15.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Telegram emphasizes users’ privacy, which has drawn criticism from many governments for allowing militants and organized criminals to discreetly communicate. 

It has also become a major source for information in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Durov has maintained that Telegram is a neutral social media platform and not a “player in geopolitics.”

“I think it’s the best place for a neutral platform like ours to be in if we want to make sure we can defend our users’ privacy and freedom of speech,” he told Carlson.
 

Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France. His “crime” appears to be enabling free speech online.https://t.co/7zAhPg5Tjs pic.twitter.com/Et0w5UapJv

— Balaji (@balajis) August 24, 2024

He is expected to appear before a judge on Sunday on charges connected to terrorism, narcotics, complicity, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen goods and child pornography, according to TF1.

“Pavel Durov will end up in pretrial detention, that’s for sure ,” an investigator familiar with the case told TF1.

“On his platform, he allowed an incalculable number of offenses and crimes to be committed, for which he did nothing to moderate or cooperate, ” the source added.
 

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