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Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov
AOP.Press | Corbis | Getty Pictures
Russia on Tuesday issued phrases of warning to France over its detainment of Pavel Durov, the CEO and founding father 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 photos of minors on the platform.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on a Tuesday name with journalists urged Paris to offer proof to assist its allegations towards Durov, Reuters and Russian state information company TASS reported.
“The costs are very critical certainly,” Peskov instructed 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 to restrict freedom of communication.”
Peskov prompt that Durov’s arrest might be seen as each proscribing freedom of speech and an act of intimidation if France fails to offer critical proof of his guilt, Reuters and TASS reported.
Though born in Russia, Durov holds citizenship of France and the UAE. 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 advanced.
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 one in every of Russia’s most outstanding expertise billionaires. He based Telegram in 2013, advertising and marketing it as an uncensored and impartial platform, accessible to folks from all walks of life and views.
Durov is estimated to have a web value 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 extensively utilized in Russia, in addition to in Ukraine. The app is utilized by authorities officers and the navy on each side of the Russia-Ukraine battle.
Earlier than he landed at France’s Le Bourget airport on his non-public jet, Durov had visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in accordance with a number of media retailers. CNBC was not capable of independently verify this.
There had been hypothesis that he was resulting from meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, nonetheless Peskov instructed the BBC {that a} assembly by no means befell.
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 “threat our Europe may die” if it would not make reforms to assist it defend Ukraine.
“The principal hazard for European safety is the battle in Ukraine,” Macron mentioned throughout a speech on the time.
– CNBC’s Ying Shan Lee and Natasha Turak contributed to this report
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