The arrest of Telegram platform founder Viktor Durov in France has drawn widespread attention to free speech. Durov may have made a fatal mistake by landing in Paris on his private jet.

French prosecutors fabricated a variety of charges against Durov: terrorist, money launderer, drug smuggler, pedophile, etc.

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Durov's arrest was politically motivated. He wrote on the X platform that Durov's arrest was "in no way a political decision" but part of an "ongoing judicial investigation" and that the judge would ultimately decide his fate.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1989, Durov is known as the "Russian Zuckerberg" and is a billionaire with assets worth tens of billions of dollars. He left Russia in 2014 and announced that he would not return to his homeland, becoming a "world citizen" traveling around the world.

According to Russian media reports, Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Russian Alliance for a Secure Internet, said Macron was acting on orders from Washington. Previously, the FBI requested access to the backend of the Telegram platform so that it could easily obtain the information of the poster, but was rejected.

Multiple media outlets reported that a mysterious woman named Yulia Vavilova was arrested in France along with Pavel Durov.

Mysterious woman Yulia

The young beauty who was able to board Durov’s private jet must have a special relationship with him. No one knows Yulia’s nationality, but she is a cryptocurrency coach and anchor from Dubai, and has been spotted with Durov many times.

Yulia's profile on the Telegram platform says she speaks four languages, including English, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.

She posted Durov's every move online, along with photos and geolocations, including one with Pavel Durov in Paris, fueling speculation that she may have accidentally or intentionally revealed his whereabouts.

India's New Delhi TV station analyzed that some people speculated that this was a "honey trap" and that Yulia was an agent of Western intelligence agencies. Against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict, Durov and his "Telegram" platform are a big trouble for the United States, Israel and France.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a few months ago, foreign hackers successfully hacked into a computer connected to the Israeli Ministry of Justice. Tens of thousands of confidential documents and sensitive emails were leaked. Links allowing anyone to download the leaked files were posted on the Telegram platform.

Durov's only crime is that he is a Russian who controls a huge social platform that the West cannot control, with nearly 1 billion users, which is something Western countries cannot tolerate.

Grove left Russia and staged a "moving story" of how to escape from Moscow's political oppression, declaring that his platform must not become a "geopolitical pawn."

He also said, "I would rather be free than obey anyone's orders." Although he spread the news that he was being persecuted in his own country, Moscow did not accuse him of any crime, let alone issue an arrest warrant.

Compared with France, his homeland is quite tolerant of him. After his arrest, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately spoke out and asked the Macron government to release him.

In response to Durov's experience, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said something thought-provoking: "You can't choose your homeland, just like the times." Although Durov has UAE and French citizenship, in the eyes of Westerners, Russian DNA flows in your blood, which can never be changed. You are their enemy, a dangerous person, and possibly a spy sent by Putin.

Durov is facing an awkward situation, and his fate is uncertain. What awaits him may be bankruptcy and life in prison. Although the diplomatic departments of Russia and the United Arab Emirates have come out to support him, it is mostly superficial. If you don't even love your own country, how can you expect other countries to love you? In a word: you have brought this upon yourself.

The motherland is like your mother, you cannot choose it. This is a warning to all Chinese and foreigners. Without the protection of the motherland, you are weak, just like an ant, you are always in danger of being crushed by an elephant, no matter how big you are. The stronger the motherland, the safer the people. History has proved it, and the future will continue to prove it.

Reposted from: Toutiao Today Author: Mars Square