Russia: Paris Offers No Explanation, Refuses to Cooperate on Durov’s Detention

The Russian Embassy in Paris said it had “asked the French authorities to explain the detention of Telegram founder Pavel Durov.” However, the French authorities “refused to cooperate on this issue,” the Russian diplomatic mission in the French capital wrote in a press release.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on Saturday, August 24, at Le Bourget airport on his return from Azerbaijan, where, as French media wrote, “there is suspicion that he may have met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on October 10, 1984, Durov left Russia some time ago and lives in the United Arab Emirates, a country of which he is a citizen. The businessman also holds French citizenship, and the arrest warrant issued by Paris authorities was executed as soon as he set foot on French soil. His property in the country is currently being searched.

“After the news of Durov’s detention became known, we immediately asked the French authorities for an explanation of the reasons and asked them to ensure that his rights were protected and that he had access to the consulate. To date, the French side has avoided interaction on this issue,” also said the Russian embassy, which has so far maintained contact with Durov’s lawyers.

Following Durov’s arrest, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova published on her Telegram channel a list of 26 Western NGOs that “in 2018 asked Russian authorities to stop obstructing” Telegram’s work following a Russian court’s decision to temporarily suspend the platform. “On July 1, 2018, the Yarovaya law came into force in Russia, which mandates telecom operators to keep for six months a record of telephone messages and internet traffic of their customers, as well as keys to decrypt users’ correspondence, providing the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) upon request,” wrote Zakharova, according to whom “there have been legislative claims against Telegram that exist in many countries due to the technical parameters of the encryption system.” Zakharova stressed that 26 Western non-governmental organizations then appealed to the Russian authorities to “stop creating obstacles to the work of Telegram,” claiming “protection of fundamental rights to freedom of speech and privacy.” However, “Durov has remained at large all this time, continuing to develop Telegram. What do you think? Will they turn to Paris this time and ask for Durov’s release or will they bite their tongues?,” Zakharova finally wrote, referring to Russian diplomats who are already working on the case of Durov’s detention in France.

Instead, according to Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of the Security Council and former president of the Russian Federation, the founder of Telegram “wanted to be a secular person who lives well without his homeland.” As for Medvedev, Durov “thought his biggest problems were in Russia, so he left and then got citizenship and residency in other states as well. He wanted to be a brilliant socialite who lived well without his homeland. He miscalculated.” For the West, “Pavel Durov is Russian and therefore dangerous, unlike Mark Zuckerberg, who cooperates with the FBI,” Medvedev emphasized in a post on Telegram. “Let the founder of Telegram realize that the homeland, as well as the time in which we live, is not chosen.”

For Alessandro Bertoldi, executive director of the Milton Friedman Institute, the arrest of Pavel Durov “is shocking news. The arrest of those who defend freedom of expression by providing the world with a safe tool of communication, which is also used by many freedom fighters in non-democratic countries, is alarming.” The Friedman Institute is a cultural institution that honors the legacy, theories, and ideas of Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman. Through conferences, publications, and debates, the institute seeks to disseminate Liberal-Liberalist principles in various areas of society.

According to Bertoldi, “to consider the creator of Telegram an accomplice to those who use it for criminal acts is a troubling and liberticiding stretch that sets a very serious precedent for everyone’s freedom. We demand Durov’s immediate release,” Bertoldi finally emphasized.