By Anthony Marcus, correspondent for Eurasia Business News, on August 25, 2024. Article n°1187.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested at the exit of his private jet at Le Bourget airport in France, according to local sources.
The businessman was accompanied by a bodyguard and a woman. The arrest was made by agents of the French air gendarmerie. Pavel Durov was from Azerbaijan. The arrest warrant was only valid on French territory.
The woman would be the crypto coach Yulia Vavilova. She accompanied the Russian billionaire throughout his trip from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. She reported on her travels to these countries in her blog. According to a number of telegram channels, Yulia lives in Dubai and often ended up in the places where Pavel Durov is. They were recently seen together at the Seven fitness club in Dubai.
French authorities consider Durov “an accomplice to crimes committed through Telegram due to the use of tools such as cryptocurrency and disposable numbers, and the lack of control over the platform”.
The French justice system considers that this lack of cooperation makes Pavel Durov complicit in the offences that would be committed with the help of Telegram. An arrest warrant was issued against Durov, which was valid on French territory.
A source close to the investigation told the LCI television channel that Pavel Durov “allowed the commission of countless offenses and crimes on his platform, in respect of which he did not take any measures of moderation or cooperation.”
On August 26, the entrepreneur can be charged.
As of 2024, Pavel Durov had the nationality of Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he lived most of the time, as well as France, which he last received in 2021. This French nationality exposes Pavel Durov to French justice. In total, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Pavel Durov’s net worth is currently estimated at $15.5 billion as of August 2024. This makes him the 150th wealthiest person in the world.
The encrypted messaging Telegram was launched in 2013, and in 2022, the messenger surpassed WhatsApp for the first time in terms of user traffic.
Telegram’s Russian audience grew by almost 10 million people during 2024. In June 2023, the number of users was 52 million, and in June this year, 61 million.
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In April 2024, in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov said that he and the rest of Telegram’s employees “pay too much attention to the FBI.” According to him, in particular, the American intelligence services tried to recruit one of its engineers.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Russian side had sent a note demanding access to the detained Telegram founder Pavel Durov. According to her, the French authorities perceive the businessman’s French nationality as the main one.
According to Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, Durov “miscalculated” when he decided that he had “the biggest problems in Russia” and became a citizen of other states. Durov needs to understand that “the Fatherland, like the times, is not chosen,” he said.
Elon Musk wrote on social network X, commenting on Durov’s detention. The businessman also published an interview with the founder of Telegram to journalist Tucker Carlson and signed it with the hashtag #FreePavel.
“The detention of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France looks alarming for the future development of software and freedom of communication in Europe.” stated the creator of the Ethereum cryptocurrency Vitalik Buterin on the social network X.
In Moscow, near the French Embassy, a rally with thousands people is held in support of the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, who was detained by the French authorities. Russian citizens and French living in Moscow bring white paper airplanes to the wall of the Embassy to express their support to the founder of Telegram.
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© Copyright 2024 – Eurasia Business News. Article no. 1187.
Eurasia Business News 