Telegram founder's arrest sparks diplomatic tensions between Russia and France

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 on offences related to Telegram.

“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.

Durov is accused of failing to take action to curb criminal use on his platform.

Russian officials have rushed to his defence.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had asked for consular access to 39-year-old Durov, saying that as he also had French citizenship “France considers that it is his main nationality”.

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She said that when Russia blocked Telegram in 2018, the move was denounced by rights groups and asked: “What do you think, will they call on Paris and demand his release, or will they bite their tongues this time?”

Other Russian officials accused France of censorship.

Rights ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova said that “it is obvious that the real reason of Pavel Durov’s arrest is an attempt to close Telegram as an internet resource where you can find out the truth about world events.”

Former president Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s main hawk during the Ukraine offensive, said he had once “a long time ago” asked Durov why he did not want to work with Russian state authorities and told him that he would have “serious problems”.

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He said that Durov had “made a mistake” by going abroad and that he should “finally realise that the fatherland, like an era, cannot be chosen.”

Telegram is widely used in Russia and is popular among state officials.

Margarita Simonyan, an influential personality on state TV, called on people to delete their Telegram chats.

“Everyone who is used to using Telegram for sensitive conversations/chats, should right now delete those chats and not do so again,” she said on social media.

She said Durov was “arrested to take away (Telegram’s) keys. And he will give them.”