39-year-old billionaire Pavel Durov, the CEO of encrypted messaging app Telegram, was arrested upon landing with his private jet at Le Bourget airport north of Paris, France, on Saturday evening.
According to French media, the Franco-Russian businessman arrived from Baku, Ajerbaijan, to France between 7.30 and 8.00 p.m. local time, accompanied by his bodyguard and personal assistant and had dinner plans in the French capital – despite being reportedly aware that he was on France’s list of wanted persons.
His arrest was based on a search warrant in connection with a preliminary investigation by a French child protection agency (OFMIN), according to French newspaper Le Figaro.
Durov is investigated for a multitude of alleged offenses -including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism- of which he is accused on the grounds of having failed to take action to curb the criminal use of his platform, per French network TF1.
Following his arrest, the Dubai-based businessman was due to appear before French court on Sunday.
France denies Durov consular access, Russia claims
Russian authorities had requested consular access to Durov, according to Russian news agency Ria Novosti. The Russian Embassy in Paris was quoted saying that “the French do not cooperate.”
According to The Financial Times, there was no request for consular access from Durov’s own representatives, who have declined to comment.
Durov was forced to leave Russia in 2014, just one year since the launch of Telegram, after he refused to comply with government orders to hand over data on Ukrainian protesters from his previously launched social media platform, VK. Russia had also tried to ban Telegram in 2018, after the app refused to comply with a court order to grant state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages.
Nonetheless, Telegram has continued to grow fast as an alternative to other western-based messaging apps, and the encrypted messaging platform has remained privacy-oriented and censorship-resistant, which critics see as a haven for criminal activity.
It became even more influential since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as it has been heavily used by both sides for the distribution of content about the war. Although this information is usually unfiltered, many users trust Telegram as an independent source.
Elon Musk supports Pavel Durov after arrest
Influential public figures have taken to defend Pavel Durov after his arrest in Paris.
Social media platform X owner and fellow billionaire Elon Musk took a stand for Durov on Sunday, posting with the “FreePavel” hashtag and adding in a separate post in French: “Liberté! Liberté! Liberté?”.
In a similar tone, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who suspended his U.S. presidential campaign to endorse the candidacy of Republican Donald Trump, commented on X that the need to protect free speech “has never been more urgent.”
Reuters reports that several Russian bloggers were calling for protests at French embassies throughout the world.
