(Reuters) – Pavel Durov, billionaire proprietor and chief government officer of the Telegram messaging software, was apprehended on the Bourget airport terminal exterior Paris on Saturday night time, TF1 tv and BFM tv acknowledged, mentioning unrevealed assets.
TF1 and BFM each acknowledged the examination was focused on an absence of mediators on Telegram, which authorities took into consideration that this state of affairs enabled felony process to happen undeterred on the messaging software.
Telegram didn’t immediately reply to a Reuters ask for comment. The French Interior Ministry and authorities had no comment. Russia’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged it was taking actions to “clarify” the state of affairs and examined whether or not Western non-governmental firms (NGOs) would definitely search his launch.
What is known about Durov and Telegram:
* Russian- birthed Durov, 39, is proprietor and proprietor of messaging software Telegram, a complimentary to make the most of system that takes on varied different social media websites methods resembling Facebook’s What sApp, or Instagram, TikTok andWechat The system intends to exceed one billion energetic common month-to-month clients inside a 12 months.
* Telegram is critical in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previousSoviet Union It has really ended up being an important useful resource of particulars on Russia’s battle in Ukraine, made use of significantly by each Moscow and Kyiv authorities. Some consultants name the appliance “a virtual battlefield” for the battle.
* Durov, whose lot of cash was approximated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, left Russia in 2014 after rejecting to comply with federal authorities wants to shut down resistance areas on his VKontakte social media websites system, which he marketed.
* Russian and French media state Durov ended up being a French individual in 2021. He relocated himself and Telegram to Dubai in 2017.
* “I would rather be free than to take orders from anyone,” Durov knowledgeable united state reporter Tucker Carlson in April concerning his departure from Russia and search for a house for his enterprise that included jobs in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
* In the very same assembly, Durov acknowledged that, previous money or Bitcoin, he had no important residential or business property resembling property, jets or luxurious yachts, as he meant to be cost-free.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by David Gregorio)
