The French president previously said there was no political motive behind the detention of the Telegram CEO at an airport outside Paris on Saturday.
US tech mogul Elon Musk has asked French President Emmanuel Macron to clarify the reasons behind the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov. The Russian entrepreneur was detained last week upon arriving at Paris-Le Bourget Airport.
French judicial authorities have twice extended Durov’s detention. The Paris public prosecutor’s office said he was arrested as part of a wider criminal investigation into an unidentified person.
“It would be helpful for the global public to understand more details about why he was arrested,” Musk wrote in a comment below Macron’s post on X (formerly Twitter).
On Sunday, the French leader went on X to deny having any political motive for detaining Durov. He insisted the arrest was part of “an ongoing judicial investigation” in which the courts will decide the fate of the entrepreneur.
Durov said he faced pressure from the US. In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in April, he said he received “pay close attention” from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies while on American soil.
According to prosecutors, Durov could face charges ranging from complicity in drug trafficking and money laundering to facilitating the distribution of child pornography.
French media had previously reported that the arrest of the 39-year-old Russian national, who also holds French, UAE and St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship, was related to alleged Telegram-related offenses. Reports suggest that authorities believe Durov is complicit in a series of crimes allegedly committed via the social media app due to insufficient moderation.
It would be helpful for the global public to understand more details about why he was arrested.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2024
Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1984, Durov left Russia in the mid-2010s and has since lived mainly in the United Arab Emirates. In 2021, he received French citizenship. In July, Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that the number of monthly active users of the messaging platform had grown to 950 million.
Durov’s arrest has been denounced as a violation of rights enjoyed in both the EU and the US. Carlson, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, former CIA and NSA contractor Edward Snowden and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks have all spoken out in support of the entrepreneur. In the immediate aftermath of the arrest, Musk, who launched the hashtag #FreePavel, suggested that pressure on free speech could worsen.