President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said that the French government was not involved in the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov and his detention was a result of an ongoing judicial process.
"The arrest of Telegram's president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide," Macron said on X in French.
Durov was detained Saturday night after his private jet arrived in Paris from Azerbaijan. His arrest took place as part of a probe into a series of charges including complicity in the detaining and sharing of child pornography, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The probe was opened "against an unidentified person" and did not specifically target Durov, the prosecutor said.
In a statement, Telegram said that its CEO — a Russian-born French-Emirati citizen — had "nothing to hide" and that the company abided by EU law.
Prominent voices, both in the tech industry and within official Russian circles, were quick to call out Durov’s arrest.
Russian senator Alexei Pushkov called France a "liberal dictatorship" which "does not tolerate individuals who claim freedom" in a Telegram post.
Support poured in from tech honchos and the general public alike immediately after the news broke about his arrest on Saturday.
Mikhail Ulyanov, the representative of Russia Mission in Vienna, in a post on X called Durov "naive" and some democracies "totalitarian."
"Some naive persons still don't understand that if they play more or less visible role in international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies," Ulyanov wrote.
X owner Elon Musk threw his lot behind the fellow entrepreneur posting several messages on his app castigating France for his arrest. "It's 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme," he wrote.
In another post, Musk drew parallels between Durov and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.
"Because he already caved into censorship pressure. Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backd," he wrote.
The French President refused to take the criticism lying down and insisting France remain a beacon of liberal values on which the republic was founded.
"More than anything else, France is committed to freedom of expression and communication, innovation and entrepreneurship," Macron said. "In a state governed by the rule of law, on social networks as in real life, freedoms are exercised within a framework established by law to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights."
Durov, originally a Russian, became a French citizen in 2021 after a fallout with his government, by way of a rarely used procedure and under unclear circumstances.
Image Source: Unsplash
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