Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov
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Russia on Tuesday issued phrases of warning to France over its detainment of Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, suggesting the transfer could also be politically motivated.
On Saturday, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Workplace issued a warrant for Durov’s arrest over an investigation opened on July 8 into organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and the distribution of pornographic photographs of minors on the platform.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on a Tuesday name with journalists urged Paris to supply proof to assist its allegations in opposition to Durov, Reuters and Russian state information company Tass reported.
“The fees are very critical certainly,” Peskov advised reporters, in accordance with Reuters-translated feedback. “They require a no much less critical foundation of proof. In any other case they are going to be a direct try and restrict freedom of communication.”
Peskov urged that Durov’s arrest may very well be seen as each proscribing freedom of speech and an act of intimidation if France fails to supply critical proof of his guilt, Reuters and Tass reported.
Though born in Russia, Durov holds citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates. Peskov indicated that Russia nonetheless considers him a citizen, nonetheless, and that the nation stands able to assist him with vital help — though Peskov admitted the state of affairs was complicated.
On Tuesday, the UAE mentioned in an announcement it had submitted a request to French officers providing Durov diplomatic help “in an pressing method,” and was “carefully following the case.”
Durov, 39, is certainly one of Russia’s most distinguished expertise billionaires. He based Telegram in 2013, advertising and marketing it as an uncensored and impartial platform, accessible to individuals from all walks of life and views.
Durov is estimated to have a internet price of about $15.5 billion, in accordance with Forbes, making him the world’s 121st wealthiest individual.
Russia blocked entry to Telegram in 2018 and has fined the corporate a number of instances for failing to delete allegedly unlawful content material. In 2020, entry to Telegram was restored in Russia, sparking hypothesis that Telegram may have ties to the Russian authorities — one thing that Telegram has denied.
The social media app, which counts 800 million customers globally, is broadly utilized in Russia, in addition to in Ukraine. The app is utilized by authorities officers and the army on each side of the Russia-Ukraine struggle.
Earlier than he landed at France’s Le Bourget airport on his personal jet, Durov had visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in accordance with a number of media shops. CNBC was not in a position to independently affirm this.
There had been hypothesis that he was as a result of meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, nonetheless Peskov advised the BBC {that a} assembly by no means occurred.
Russia’s warnings to France come as relations between the 2 nations stay bitter amid Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In April, Macron — a key supporter of Ukraine amongst Western leaders — mentioned there was a “danger our Europe may die” if it does not make reforms to assist it defend Ukraine.
“The principal hazard for European safety is the struggle in Ukraine,” Macron mentioned throughout a speech on the time.
— CNBC’s Ying Shan Lee and Natasha Turak contributed to this report.
