PARIS: Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov is to appear in court on Sunday after being arrested at Le Bourget airport for offences related to his popular messaging app, sources said.

There was no official confirmation from France of the arrest, though a source close to the matter said Durov had arrived from Baku, Azerbaijan, and was planning to have dinner in the French capital.

On the other hand, Russia has accused France of “refusing to cooperate” following the arrest of the Franco-Russian billionaire, 39, at the airport on Saturday night. Russian authorities said they had demanded access to Durov but had no response from France. “We immediately asked French authorities to explain the reasons for this detention and demanded that his rights be protected and that consular access be granted. Up to now, the French side is refusing to cooperate on this question,” Russia’s embassy in Paris said in a statement reported by the Ria Novosti news agency.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had asked for consular access to 39-year-old Durov, saying that as he also had French citizenship “France considers that it is his main nationality”.

An investigating magistrate is to decide later on Sunday on a possible extension of Durov’s 24-hour detention. Depending on that decision, he could be charged or released.

France’s OFMIN, an office tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offences including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and promotion of terrorism, one source said. Durov is accused of failing to take action to curb the criminal use of his platform.

“Enough of Telegram’s impunity,” said one investigator who expressed surprise that Durov flew to Paris knowing he was a wanted man. Businessman Elon Musk posted the hashtag #FreePavel on the X social media platform he owns and commented in French, “Liberte Liberte! Liberte?” (Freedom Freedom! Freedom?).

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024