Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has questioned the French authorities' rationale for arresting Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, pointing to the absurdity of holding him accountable for crimes committed using his network.
The Russian tech entrepreneur was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport last week and has since been charged with with multiple offenses, including complicity in “administering an online platform” used by criminal gangs to conduct illicit activities, and refusing to cooperate with investigators.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Saturday, Peskov acknowledged that Russian authorities previously had “questions” for the tech billionaire, but stressed that Moscow never tried to arrest him.
“Terrorists do indeed use the Telegram network. But terrorists also use cars. Why don’t they arrest the CEOs of Renault or Citroën?” the Kremlin spokesman said when asked to comment on Durov’s arrest and whether he had a message for his “European colleagues.”
Pavel Durov, a St. Petersburg native who holds the citizenships of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, formally left his homeland in 2014 after law enforcement accused him of refusing to grant investigators access to terrorism suspects’ communications. The dispute was settled in 2020 when the Russian telecoms regulator announced that it had no further issues with Telegram.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in April, Durov claimed that he had consistently refused to provide user data to any authorities, including US intelligence services, or to install a surveillance “backdoor” in the app, which has almost a billion monthly users.
The Russian entrepreneur’s arrest has sparked outrage worldwide, with public leaders such as X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks accusing French authorities of attacking free speech.
Durov was released on bail on Wednesday and ordered to remain in France until the case against him concludes. If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
Telegram maintains that the company complies with EU laws and that its content moderation policies are “within industry standards.”