Paris was “the most unexpected place” to be detained, the Telegram CEO has said
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has told American journalist Tucker Carlson that he had never been arrested by authorities in Russia.
The tech mogul was detained by French police last year on suspicion of committing a flurry of cybercrimes.
In an interview released on Monday, Carlson noted that the Russian-born tech entrepreneur left the country more than a decade ago for political reasons. He asked him if he had ever faced arrest in Russia, to which Durov replied that he had not.
Durov was arrested in August 2024 at Paris–Le Bourget Airport, charged with 12 offenses linked to Telegram’s handling of illegal content, including child exploitation material and narcotics trafficking, and prevented from leaving France for seven months. He was released in March having posted €5 million ($5.4 million) bail.
Read more French spies challenge Durov’s censorship accusationAsked if he sees any irony in only being arrested in France, a country that is viewed as “part of the free West,” Durov said Paris “was the most unexpected place to get arrested for me.”
Durov said that he had visited several countries before arriving in France, some of which “are considered in the West to be autocratic or authoritarian.” He added that in many such nations, Telegram is popular because it provides “100% privacy.”
Carlson pointed to a possible contrast in public reaction someone else of a similar profile had been arrested. “If Mark Zuckerberg or Elon [Musk] got grabbed… you’d be like ‘Stop—what? The world is ending.’ But they grabbed you and people are like, ‘Oh, he’s got a Russian last name, it’s fine. I’m sure there’s a good reason.’”
“I hope it had nothing to do with my ethnicity,” Durov replied. “Because that would be very alarming.”
Durov has denied the French charges, calling them absurd. His arrest sparked an outpouring of sympathy worldwide, as well as accusations that France is infringing on freedom of speech.
In late May, Durov claimed that the French government had sought to make Telegram block conservative voices in Romania ahead of the country’s presidential runoff, but he refused. French officials have in-turn, denied the claim.
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