The world was stunned to see the CEO of the famous texting platform Telegram arrested after landing in France recently.
A lot of questions were raised including whether or not the decision had a political intention. Now, French President Macron has released a statement on this matter. He confirmed that it was part of an independent investigation and therefore had nothing to do with the country’s politics.
A judicial inquiry was launched last month where Paul Durov was questioned for being involved in a series of criminal acts that went against the law. This is why he was detained after his private jet landed in the country.
In another statement rolled out regarding the matter, a series of violations were so serious and involved child abuse material, fraud, criminal transactions, and even drug trafficking. Also, the fact that his company was unwilling to cooperate with the investigation and share documents with the authorities was concerning.
Macro’s statement on the matter is actually the first ever public comment made regarding this arrest. He posted more on the matter through his social media account on X, adding how France stands by its freedom of expression. But that has its limits and when things go out of the framework and citizens are at risk, no one is above the law.
Macron also called reports terming the CEO’s arrest policy as false information. He says it has nothing to do with politics and the judges will now determine the final verdict on the issue. Durov is currently under detention and it could extend to the evening hours of Wednesday. He would either be released or charged for the allegations put up against him.
Durov holds citizenship in several countries including the UAE, France, the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts, and Russia. Therefore, Russian officials were not happy about the news. They expressed anger at the detention decision.
Russia has gone as far as to call it politics and is a clear proof of hypocrisy linked to freedom of speech concepts in the Western world. Similarly, the decision to put Durov in detention upset Kremlin officials as well. Many Russian critics opposed the Kremlin’s decision of blocking Telegram but could not do so and that’s why the ban was withdrawn.
The UAE has also spoken out on the matter and says it’s keeping tabs on the case. They similarly requested France to provide more details on the Durov case on an urgent basis.
The French and UAE military forces have a strong military bond with France in full control of a naval base in the city of Abu Dhabi.
Telegram has close to one billion users around the globe and was first founded by Durov to combat intensifying pressure from Russia over freedom of speech.
Since then, it’s been targeted by many and threatened to be taken down as it didn’t participate in censorship despite being pressured to do so. Countries like Russia did not appreciate it showing the truth about the war with Ukraine and Durove was pressurized to take the site down. He refused and opted to leave the nation.
Russians were able to share news freely and they were very happy to use the app to communicate. Let’s not forget how the platform also served as a famous choice for Ukrainians to get the latest news and updates including those about the war. Interestingly, they were also informed about any air raids and alerts for missile strikes.
After his arrest in France, the app released a statement about how it is following all EU laws. It similarly highlighted its moderation of content to be improving and as per standards.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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