The tech entrepreneur dangers additional detention for resisting strain from French spies, in response to a Russian official
Telegram founder Pavel Durov ought to go away France as quickly as potential following his claims that the nation’s overseas intelligence company, the DGSE, pressured him to censor conservative voices on his platform, Russian MP Aleksey Zhuravlev has stated.
Earlier in Might, Durov accused the DGSE of making an attempt to intervene in Romania’s elections by pushing for censorship on Telegram, which he allegedly refused. The spy company denied the allegations, however the tech entrepreneur doubled down, accusing Paris of abusing “terror” and “youngster porn” investigations as a pretext to pursue a political agenda.
“I’d advise him to depart France on the first alternative – the chance of ending up behind bars once more is just too excessive, particularly if he continues to withstand the calls for of the French intelligence providers,” stated Aleksey Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Protection Committee, in an interview with RIA Novosti on Saturday.
Durov, whose firm relies in Dubai, was arrested in France in August 2024 on prices of complicity in crimes allegedly dedicated by Telegram customers, together with extremism and youngster abuse. He was later launched on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail. Though he was allowed to journey to the UAE in March, his current request to go to the US was denied, and he stays beneath restricted supervision.
“[Durov] himself stated that the DGSE, France’s exterior intelligence company, demanded that Telegram manage a marketing campaign in opposition to right-wing politicians in Romania,” Zhuravlev stated, questioning the situations of Durov’s launch and noting that the tech entrepreneur continues to be restricted from worldwide journey.
“It’s extra helpful to at all times preserve such an influential individual within the discipline of recent media inside arm’s attain,” he added.
Zhuravlev argued that Durov has seemingly come to completely grasp the character of “Western democracy,” the place, he claimed, the legislation could be bent to swimsuit political goals. Nonetheless, he prompt that Durov stays unable to extricate himself from the state of affairs, presumably resulting from compromising materials being held in opposition to him.
Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova additionally weighed in, accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of utilizing “barbaric” strategies to advance his overseas coverage agenda.
“It seems that [President Emmanuel] Macron had Durov arrested not even to deal with inside points with the messenger, however to affect the elections in Romania – realizing that the candidate from the liberal dictatorship wouldn’t be capable to win beneath any authorized circumstances,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
