Macron speaks out on Durov arrest

The French president has denied inviting the Telegram founder to dinner

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied any advance knowledge of Pavel Durov’s trip to Paris or any role in his arrest and detention.

Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport last Saturday after flying in from Azerbaijan. He reportedly 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.

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Durov released on €5 million bail

Durov spent several days in jail before seeing a magistrate judge on Wednesday. He was released on bail of €5 million ($5.5 million) and forbidden from leaving France pending the proceedings.

France has charged the Russian-born businessman 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. 

“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 has the passports of Russia, 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 trumped 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 users and is the app of choice in Russia and Ukraine, among other places.