By Juliana Cruz Lima, The Sun
Translated by: Eason, Mars Finance
Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested by GTA (Gendarmerie de Transport Aéronautique) gendarmes at Le Bourget airport in the suburbs of Paris at around 8pm on Saturday.
The 39-year-old French-Russian man was accompanied by his bodyguard and a woman, according to French media TF1 Info.
According to the wanted criminal file, Pavel Durov arrived directly from Azerbaijan.
French officials issued a search warrant for the Telegram founder based on preliminary findings.
Authorities claim that Telegram’s lack of moderation, its cooperation with law enforcement, and the tools it provides (disposable numbers and cryptocurrency) make it an accomplice to drug trafficking, terrorism, and fraud.
But the search warrant is only valid if Pavel Durov is on French soil.
Pavel Durov is a Russian-born entrepreneur and programmer best known for founding the social networking site VK (VKontakte) and the messaging app Telegram.
Born on October 10, 1984 in Leningrad, Russia (now Saint Petersburg), Pavel Durov is often referred to as the "Russian Mark Zuckerberg" due to VK's similarities to Facebook.
In 2006, Pavel Durov launched VKontakte together with his brother Nikolay, which quickly became the most popular social network in Russia.
But his tenure at VK was not without controversy, as Pavel Durov clashed with Russian authorities over demands to censor content and provide user data to the government.
In 2014, under increasing pressure, Pavel Durov was forced to sell his shares in VK and leave the company.
After leaving VK, Pavel Durov focused on Telegram, a cloud-based messaging app he and his brother Nikolai launched in 2013.
Telegram is known for its strong focus on privacy and security, offering end-to-end encrypted messaging, channels for broadcasting to large audiences, and features including self-destructing messages.
Telegram's commitment to privacy has made it popular with users around the world, but has also drawn criticism from governments who claim the app is used by criminals and terrorists to communicate without being detected.
Life in exile
Pavel Durov's self-imposed exile is largely due to his conflicts with the Russian government over issues such as censorship, privacy, and political freedom.
The main reason for Pavel Durov's exile was that he served as CEO of VKontakte (VK), a social media platform he founded.
During the anti-Putin protests in 2011-2012, Russian authorities demanded that Pavel Durov hand over the personal data of protest organizers and shut down opposition groups on VK.
Pavel Durov refused to comply with these demands, which put him on a collision course with the Russian government.
In 2014, Pavel Durov again came under pressure from Russian authorities, this time for his refusal to block the VK group supporting the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine and for his refusal to hand over the data of Ukrainian users to the FSB (Federal Security Service).
Following these events, he faced legal challenges and his control over VK was weakened.
In April 2014, Pavel Durov was forced to resign as VK CEO and shortly afterwards sold his remaining shares in the company.
The resignation and sale were most likely not voluntary but the result of intense pressure from Russian authorities and possibly business interests close to the Kremlin.
After losing control of VK, Pavel Durov decided to leave Russia, saying that Russia is "not currently suitable for the development of Internet business."
Pavel Durov has been living in self-imposed exile since leaving Russia in 2014.
He became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis through the economic citizenship program and lived in several countries, leading a nomadic lifestyle.
Pavel Durov continues to advocate for privacy, free speech, and resistance to government surveillance — principles that often conflict with Russian government policies.
What's next?
Investigators from France's National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF) have informed him of the allegations and have taken him into custody. He is expected to appear before an investigating judge this Saturday evening. By Sunday, he could face multiple charges, including terrorism, drug trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, handling stolen goods and child exploitation content.
“Pavel Durov will end up in pretrial detention, that’s for sure,” an investigator told TF1/LCI. Another source familiar with the case explained: “Countless crimes and violations were committed on his platform, and he did nothing to mediate or cooperate.”
Pavel Durov's pretrial detention seemed inevitable. Law enforcement officials believed that Pavel Durov, a billionaire, had the resources to flee and lacked the necessary assurances to convince a judge to grant him bail.
TON’s price plummeted following the news. As of this writing, TON is trading at $5.94, down 13% from earlier today.
