Founder, CEO of Telegram arrested in France
Agency
25/08/2024
Telegra CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at Borget Airport outside Paris, France on Saturday. - Reuters file image
PARIS: Telegram application founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at Borget Airport outside Paris, France on Saturday.
Citing the country's local media reports, Durov was on his way to board his private jet before being arrested.
According to sources cited, he has been issued an arrest warrant in France as part of the initial police investigation.
The source added that the investigation is focused on the lack of monitoring on Telegram and that the police consider the situation to allow criminal activity to continue unhindered on the messaging app.
Meanwhile, Telegram did not provide any comment regarding the report while the French Ministry of the Interior and the police did not issue any statement regarding the arrest.
Durov was reportedly traveling from Azerbaijan and was arrested around 8pm local time. Telegram is based in Dubai and was founded by Russian-born Durov.
Durov left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down the opposition community on the VK social media platform, which he later sold.
He is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of US$15.5 billion.
Durov has also reported that some governments have tried to suppress him but that the app, which now has 900 million active users, should remain a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics." - Agency
