Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov
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Russia warned France on Tuesday about the detention of Pavel Durov, the chief executive and founder of messaging app Telegram, suggesting the move could be politically motivated.
The Paris prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for Durov on Saturday in an investigation launched on July 8 that targets organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud and the distribution of underage pornographic images on the platform.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke to reporters on Tuesday and urged Paris to provide evidence to support its charges against Durov, according to Reuters and Russian state news agency TASS.
“These accusations are indeed very serious,” Peskov told reporters, according to comments translated by Reuters. “They require an equally serious evidence base. Otherwise, they will be a direct attempt to restrict freedom of communication.”
According to reports from Reuters and TASS, Peskov said that if France fails to provide serious evidence of Durov's guilt, Durov's arrest may be regarded as a restriction of free speech and an act of intimidation.
Although Durov was born in Russia, he holds French and Emirati citizenship. However, Peskov said Russia still considered him a citizen and that the country stood ready to provide him with necessary assistance – although Peskov acknowledged the situation was complicated.
Tuesday, UAE said in a statement It has requested French officials to provide “urgent” diplomatic assistance to Durov and is “following the case closely”.
Durov, 39, is one of Russia's most prominent tech billionaires. He founded Telegram in 2013, promoting it as an uncensored, neutral platform that could be used by people from all walks of life and with different viewpoints.
Durov's net worth is estimated to be approximately $15.5 billion. According to Forbesmaking him the 121st richest person in the world.
Russia blocked access to Telegram in 2018 and fined the company multiple times for failing to remove allegedly illegal content. In 2020, Russia restored access to Telegram, sparking speculation that Telegram may have ties to the Russian government— What Telegram denies.
social media apps, 800 million users worldwideyes Widely used in Russiaand in Ukraine. The app is used by government officials and the military on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to multiple media reports, Durov visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, before arriving at Le Bourget Airport in France on a private plane. CNBC could not independently confirm this.
There was speculation that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Peskov tell the bbc The meeting never took place.
Russia's warning to France comes as relations between the two countries continue to sour amid Putin's ongoing incursions into Ukraine. In April, Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine's main supporter among Western leaders, said that without reforms to help defend Ukraine, “our Europe could perish”.
“The main danger to European security is the war in Ukraine,” Macron said in a speech at the time.
—CNBC’s Ying Shan Lee and Natasha Turak contributed to this report