French President Emmanuel Macron has denied having any advance knowledge of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s visit to the country or playing a role in the Russian entrepreneur’s arrest upon arrival in Paris.
Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport last Saturday after flying in from Azerbaijan. He told police he was on his way to meet Macron for dinner, according to the French outlet Le Canard Enchaine.
“I was absolutely not aware of Mr. Durov’s arrival in France – and this is normal, because I am not supposed to know about the comings and goings of everyone with French nationality,” Macron told reporters at a press conference in Belgrade on Thursday evening.
“It is false that I had made any invitation, it is totally false,” the French president added. “I was not supposed to see Durov either last weekend or thereafter.”
Macron, who is on a two-day visit to Serbia, insisted that France protects freedom of expression and is committed to entrepreneurs and innovators.
“But we’re also a country where there is a separation of powers and judges make decisions independently. And this is a good thing,” he said.
Durov spent several days in jail before seeing a magistrate judge on Wednesday. He has been charged with a dozen offenses, ranging from refusal to cooperate with authorities to administering an online platform allegedly used by organized crime for illegal conduct such as trafficking and child sexual abuse.
Durov was released on bail of €5 million ($5.5 million) and forbidden from leaving France pending the proceedings.
“It’s totally absurd to think that the head of a social network could be involved in criminal acts that do not concern him, either directly or indirectly,” his lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, told AFP on Wednesday. Telegram fully complies with EU laws concerning digital technology, Kaminski added.
Durov’s detention sparked international outrage and accusations that France was attempting to strong-arm a platform outside the West’s control into censorship. The French president reportedly invited Durov to move Telegram to France in 2018, three years before granting him citizenship.
Durov also holds the citizenship of France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Both Moscow and Abu Dhabi have tried to provide consular support, only to be rebuffed by Paris claiming his French citizenship trumps all others.
Brothers Pavel and Nikolay Durov created Telegram a decade ago, as a privacy-centric encrypted messenger. The platform now has almost a billion monthly users and is seen as the app of choice in Russia and Ukraine, among other countries.
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