2024-08-26 19:13:28
- Moscow demands immediate access to the Russian billionaire, demands an explanation from France for his detention
- Medusa: Businessmen and Kremlin officials triage chats before they become available to the West
The arrest of billionaire and Telegram founder Pavel Durov had many influential figures in Russia on their toes this weekend. According to Meduza, businessmen and government officials were instructed to delete secret correspondence conducted on the encrypted messaging app, which is renowned for security and data protection.
Information emerged that important Russian military correspondence also passed through the encrypted traffic. However, suddenly there was a threat that the arrest of the 39-year-old Russian billionaire, who
doesn’t like to be controlled,
could cause important information to fall into the hands of the West. So far, he has refused to cooperate with authorities.
Now the Russian entrepreneur faces up to 20 years in prison. He was arrested late in the evening on Sunday, when he landed on his private plane from Azerbaijan at the Paris Bourget airport. He was accompanied by a woman and a bodyguard. He is accused in France of the lack of modding in his application, which before the authorities allowed various criminal charges – from money laundering, through drug trafficking, to sharing pedophile content.
The Finnish service OFMIN, which deals with the prevention of violence against minors, had issued an order for his detention in connection with a preliminary investigation of the application he manages.
“So far with impunity on “Telegram”,
said an investigator of the case, who expressed surprise that Durov decided to go to France – given that he was aware of his status as a wanted person.
In front of the hands, he did not put his foot in order to stop the trampling of the night. He was expected to appear in court as early as Sunday to have his bond determined.
The Russian embassy in France demanded consular access to Durov – demanded an explanation of the arrest and guarantee of his rights. From there they stated that the country refused to cooperate.
Durov, whose fortune Forbes estimates at $15.5 billion, has been based in Dubai for years. He created “Telegram” together with Bpat in 2013. The idea for an encrypted communication platform came against the background of the pressure from the Russians on his project “Vkontakte” – the most popular social network in Russia, which is an analogue of “Facebook”. Then the Putin regime made him shut down opposition communities on his social media platform. However, Durov stubbornly refuses. He subsequently sold it and in 2014 left his homeland.
In April 2021, the billionaire received citizenship from the United Arab Emirates, and a few months later he also took French citizenship – with which he practically became part of the EU. He is still a Russian citizen.
The entrepreneur has repeatedly stated that he strives for the impartiality of “Telegram” – he refuses to be regulated by both Russia and the West. Now many believe that this is precisely the reason for his detention. Dmitry Medvedev recalled a conversation between him and the billionaire several years ago, in which he told him that if he did not want to cooperate with law enforcement, he would have problems with any country.