Pavel Durov: Russia calls Telegram founder a ‘political prisoner’ after arrest in France | World News

A Russian official said Telegram founder Pavel Durov was a “political prisoner” after his arrest in France.

The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire behind the encrypted messaging app was arrested after landing his private jet at Le Bourget Airport on the outskirts of Paris on Saturday.

It is unclear why Mr Durov was arrested, but BFMTV reported that the arrest warrant concerned a shortage of moderators telegram and potential criminal activities, including the possible use of the app for money laundering, drug trafficking, or sharing child sexual abuse content.

Russian Parliamentarians have condemned his arrest. Maria Butina – who spent 15 months in a US prison for working as an unregistered Russian agent – accused Europe of trying to take control of Telegram.

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“Pavel Durov is a political prisoner – a victim of a Western witch hunt,” she said.

“The arrest of Pavel Durov means that there is no more freedom of speech – it means that freedom of speech is dead in Europe.”

“Now they basically have a hostage and they're going to try to blackmail Russia. They're going to try to blackmail all Telegram users and not only try to gain control but also try to block the network here in Russia.”

Mr Durov left Russia in 2014 after losing control of his former social media company Vkontakte (VK).

He refused to comply with government demands to close opposition groups on the platform and refused to provide security authorities with data on Ukrainian protesters.

He moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in August 2021.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian embassy in France also requested consular access to Mr Durov and demanded that his rights be guaranteed.

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France has so far avoided “engagement” in the situation with Durov, and Russian diplomats are in contact with his lawyer, the embassy said.

According to local reports, Mr Durov could be charged on Sunday. The French Interior Ministry, police and the Paris prosecutor's office did not comment on his arrest.

Telegram is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, with almost one billion users.

It offers end-to-end encryption – effectively protects data from interception – and places great emphasis on data protection.