(Reuters) – Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of 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, French prosecutors said on Monday.
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,” Macron wrote on X. “This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide.”
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.
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Durov can be held until Wednesday, it added.
Reuters was unable to reach any lawyer representing Durov.
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.
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 – claims Russia denies.
Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg” has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. Estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, Durov said in April 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.”
The Kremlin on Monday said it had yet to see any official French accusations against Durov.
“We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing. “With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without (knowing), it would probably be wrong to make any statements.”
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.
