Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has given his full support to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov following his arrest in France, after the tech tycoon fled his home country a decade ago after a standoff with the Kremlin over freedom of speech.
French prosecutors said on Monday that Durov was handcuffed over the weekend as part of an investigation into crimes linked to images of child sexual abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that unless France presented serious evidence, the accusations would be seen as an attempt to restrict freedom of communication.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call that Russia was ready to provide all necessary assistance to Durov, a Russian national, but said the situation was complicated by his French nationality.
“The charges are very serious,” Peskov said. “They need to be based on equally serious evidence, otherwise they would be a direct attempt to restrict freedom of communication.”
Putin's support marks a strange development, as Russia has previously tried unsuccessfully to block Telegram and has fined the company multiple times for failing to remove content it considers illegal.
However, leaked documents circulating on Telegram and X suggest that Durov may have visited Russia a staggering 50 times since his first trip there in 2014.
Some social media users have speculated that Durov may have made a deal with Putin during a visit to Russia to give the Russian leader access to a private Telegram channel, but there is no evidence of collusion.
The app, launched by Durov in 2013, An essential communication tool for citizens and government officials During the Russian-Ukrainian war.
It exists as one of the last news links between Russia and Ukraine, but it is a double-edged sword, as Russians have the same access to the app as Ukrainians.
Ukrainians used the messaging app to send out air raid warnings and distribute maps of local bomb shelters, and citizens used the site to document the horrors of war firsthand.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities are using Telegram to spread the news. They allegedly flooded the site with false information. There are also fake fact-checking channels.
Pro-democracy groups around the world also use Telegram widely as an organizing tool.
But the app It has been accused of not moderating content from extremist groups. Islamic State, white supremacists, COVID-19 and QAnon conspiracy theorists, etc.
Durov's arrest comes as the Ukrainian war approaches its third year and relations between Russia and France become strained.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in April that “Europe risks perishing” if countries did not unite to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.
“The greatest danger to European security is the war in Ukraine,” Macron said in a speech at the time.
Macron on Monday denied that Durov's arrest was politically motivated.
A spokesman for the Paris prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that Durov's detention had been extended by 48 hours late on Monday.
Prosecutors must then decide whether to indict or release the defendant. Under French law, if a defendant is indicted, the risk of flight is a factor that judges must take into account when assessing the possibility of pretrial detention.
Durov, who has a net worth of $15.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine, also holds a UAE passport.
The UAE also spoke out in support of the tech entrepreneur, submitting a request to French authorities on Tuesday to provide diplomatic assistance to Durov “urgently,” and saying it was “closely monitoring the case.”
X owner Elon Musk was among the first wave to defend Durov, sharing a video in which Durov praised X for spearheading innovation and freedom of speech, writing “#FreePavel.”
Durov, a strong advocate of freedom of speech, He was blacklisted by the Russian government in 2013. He founded the app VKontakte, Russia's version of Facebook, in 2006.
The ban, which a state spokesman called a “mistake,” was lifted a few hours later.
The overnight blacklisting came shortly after the Federal Security Service, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, ordered Durov to shut down activist-run VK groups that were used to organize protests against the 2011 parliamentary elections won by Putin's United Russia party.
Durov has refused to shut down groups, including the protest group led by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
A month before his blacklisting, Durov was reportedly involved in a traffic accident in which a police officer was slightly injured.
The technology company's CEO refused to testify as a witness and fled the country. According to a source who knows him.
He spent the next decade in self-chosen exile, first on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis, then relocating to Dubai.
