The Russian embassy in Paris on Sunday accused French authorities of “refusing to cooperate” after the arrest of Telegram messaging platform owner Pavel Durov.
Durov, who has Russian and other nationalities, was detained at Paris Le Bourget airport on Saturday and was expected to appear in court on Sunday for alleged offenses related to the popular messaging app, Telegram, officials said.
“We immediately asked French authorities to explain the reasons for this detention and demanded that his rights be protected and that consular access be granted. Up to now, the French side is refusing to cooperate on this question,” the embassy said in a statement reported by Ria Novosti news agency.
The Franco-Russian billionaire, 39, had just travelled from Baku, in Azerbaijan, another source close to the case said.
France’s OFMIN, an agency tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov as the coordinating agency in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism, one of the sources close to the case said.
Durov is suspected of failing to take action to curb the criminal use of his platform.
“Enough of Telegram’s impunity,” said one of the investigators, adding they were surprised Durov came to Paris knowing he was a wanted man.
With AFP
