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French President Emmanuel Macron reacted today to the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. He said the Telegram CEO was detained as part of an ongoing judicial investigation and categorically denied rumors that it could be a political move.
The statement is the first official confirmation of the Russian billionaire's arrest, about two days after Durov was detained when his private jet landed at an airport outside Paris on Saturday.
Moscow has since accused France of double standards on free speech and prompted a stern warning from the Kremlin that Durov should be granted his rights, further worsening already strained relations between the two countries.
Many questions have been raised about the reasons and circumstances of his arrest. On Sunday night, French authorities extended Durov's detention for failing to curb offenses such as fraud, drug trafficking, organized crime and the promotion of terrorism on the Telegram messaging platform, according to French media reports.
Durov can be held for up to 96 hours for questioning. Once the custody phase is over, the judge can decide to release him or press charges. Russia's embassy in Paris said it had requested access to Durov, but said "the French side is refusing to cooperate" as Durov is also a French citizen.
Macron said that while France is "deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication", such freedoms are "protected within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life".
"It is up to the judiciary, in complete independence, to implement the law", he said in X.
"Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently to Europe," Telegram said in a statement.
"It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform."
Durov himself fled Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on the VKontakte social media platform, which he also founded and has since sold.
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