“Freedom of speech in Europe is dead,” Maria Butina declared in response to the arrest of the billionaire, who was born in Russia, at Le Bourget airport yesterday.
An official from Russia has stated that Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, is becoming a “political prisoner” as a result of his incarceration in France.
After his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of Paris on Saturday, the Russian-born millionaire, who is responsible for the encrypted messaging software, was taken into custody. He is 39 years old.
BFMTV said that the warrant concerned a lack of moderators on Telegram and potential illegal behaviour, including the app’s likely use in money laundering, drug trafficking, or the distribution of content that would be considered sexually abusive to children. However, it is unclear what Mr. Durov was arrested for when he was taken into custody.
Maria Butina, who was sentenced to fifteen months in prison in the United States for operating as an unregistered Russian agent, has accused Europe of attempting to gain control of Telegram. Russian legislators, who have criticised his arrest, have made this accusation.
“Pavel Durov is a political prisoner, a victim of a witch hunt by the West,” according to her statement.
Due to the arrest of Pavel Durov, there is no longer any freedom of speech; in fact, it is a sign that freedom of speech in Europe has been eradicated.
“Now basically, they have a hostage, and they will try to blackmail Russia; they will try to blackmail all the users of Telegram and not only try to get control but also try to block the network here in Russia.”
The year 2014 marked Mr. Durov’s departure from Russia, following the loss of control of his former social media firm, Vkontakte (VK).
He did not cooperate with the demands of the government to shut down opposition groups on the platform, and he refused to send over information about Ukrainian demonstrators to the security authorities.
In the year 2017, he relocated to Dubai, and in August 2021, he became a citizen of France.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian embassy in France has also demanded that Mr. Durov’s rights be protected and has requested that he be granted access to consular services.
According to the Russian embassy, France has “avoided engagement” on the problem with Durov up until this point, and Russian diplomats are currently in communication with his defence attorney.
It has been reported that Mr. Durov may be indicted on Sunday, according to local media. Following his detention, the French Ministry of the Interior, the Paris Police, and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office did not provide any reaction.
There are close to one billion people who use Telegram, making it one of the most downloaded applications in the world.
It provides end-to-end encryption, which effectively prevents data from being intercepted, and it places a significant emphasis on protecting users’ privacy rights.