Mysteries surround the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

The arrest of Pavel Durov, considered the "Russian Zuckerberg" with multiple nationalities, by French authorities on August 24th has attracted significant public attention, with many intriguing mysteries and speculations...

The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has sparked much speculation. (Source: Fortune)

Political factors

The arrest of Telegram app owner Pavel Durov on June 24th at Paris-Le Bourget airport, upon his private plane landing in Paris from Azerbaijan, immediately sparked much speculation about his motives and reasons...

According to a press release from the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office on August 26, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested by authorities in connection with a criminal investigation.

Accordingly, the 39-year-old Russian-born businessman is accused of 12 charges, including facilitating drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime, and aiding and abetting the dissemination of child pornography. In addition, he is also under investigation for refusing to cooperate with investigations into cybercrime and financial crimes.

However, this incident has sparked much speculation and mystery. The event clearly demonstrates the importance of the Telegram project and the role of Pavel Durov, the owner of the popular Telegram messaging app, which is known for its supposedly "absolute" privacy.

Pavel Durov holds the encryption keys that secure Telegram's information. However, despite pressure from many powerful forces, Durov has repeatedly stated that he will not transfer them to anyone. Although the French prosecutor's office has given reasons for Durov's arrest and initially charged him with 12 offenses, many observers believe that the arrest of the Telegram boss is politically motivated. Therefore, the case may only be resolved through political agreements.

But whatever the reason for the arrest, it will immediately affect nearly 1 billion users of this app.

Following the arrest, and especially after the statement from the Paris prosecutor's office, Moscow reacted strongly initially, but so far Russian diplomats have been unable to reach Durov.

Why France?

According to media reports, Pavel Durov holds three passports. In addition to his Russian passport, Durov also has citizenship of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – one of the most difficult countries to obtain citizenship from; citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis (a Caribbean nation and a member of the British Commonwealth); and French citizenship. The billionaire Durov only acquired French citizenship in 2021.

The circumstances surrounding Durov's arrest on August 24th are also very mysterious. According to French media, at approximately 8:00 PM local time, Durov's private jet landed in Paris at Le Bourget airport. Immediately upon landing, the Russian-born billionaire was arrested under an arrest warrant, which, according to some sources, had been issued a year prior.

One of the leading investigators in the case told Le Figaro that Durov knew about the order but still decided to go to France. The newspaper quoted an anonymous source as saying that perhaps the billionaire thought he would not be punished. This is a rather strange assumption.

According to Le Figaro , Durov was arrested due to a lack of censorship on Telegram. Durov's Telegram account was favored by various types of criminals – from drug traffickers to those distributing child pornography – because of the Telegram owner's repeated claims of data and information security being "even more secure than bank security." Therefore, the Telegram owner's refusal to censor content was considered complicity in criminal activities. This means it's a crime punishable by imprisonment (at least for the duration of his detention).

But the question is, why, knowing he could be arrested and sentenced to prison, did Pavel Durov still eagerly go to France only to be arrested and imprisoned in France?

Another mystery concerns the young billionaire's itinerary. Pavel Durov flew to France from Azerbaijan, not from Dubai, where he resides as a citizen. Many questions remain about what he did in Baku and why he flew directly from there to Paris.

All theories about Durov's arrest – differing from the version put forward by an anonymous French security official in the media – essentially point to the speculation that the Telegram founder was arrested for the sake of obtaining his encryption keys.

Access to information exchanged within the Telegram app could be of interest to authorities in many countries, including France. However, the owner of Telegram, a man known for his eccentric lifestyle, stubbornly refuses to disclose this information.

Even threats to block Telegram in Russia never intimidated him. In 2015, shortly after leaving the Russian Federation, Durov asserted: “Telegram has not and will not provide personal data or encryption keys to third parties. Telegram is very popular with tens of millions of users in dozens of markets, and threats to block one or two markets will not affect Telegram’s privacy policy.”

Reason for arrest

According to observers, France's politically motivated accusations against Telegram stem from several reasons.

Firstly, Telegram is actively used by those involved in the military campaign in Ukraine. As a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and one of Ukraine's key allies, France cannot ignore this.

Secondly, the French authorities were also forced to deal with Durov's app due to pressure (including from outside) since 2021, when the billionaire received French citizenship. That year, the German Ministry of Justice opened two lawsuits against Telegram over the content on the app. German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said Telegram refused to cooperate with the German government. Complaints about Telegram came from many European organizations. For example, just before Durov's arrest, the French Professional Football League declared its dissatisfaction with Telegram's unauthorized broadcasting of football matches from the national championship.

Third, Durov's arrest may be related to the Azerbaijan-France relationship. France actively supports Armenia, while Azerbaijan is accused by Paris of supporting separatists in New Caledonia. In this context, a connection between Durov's visit to Baku and his arrest by French law enforcement agencies is clear.

The Russian website ng.ru commented that, whatever the event may be, it opens a new chapter in the history of relations between the state and internet entrepreneurs. Never before has the creator of such a popular social media platform been arrested for his professional activities. Unsurprisingly, among Durov's supporters is the owner of the social media platform X, billionaire Elon Musk, a social network with many users alongside Zuckerberg's Facebook...

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nhung-bi-an-phu-bong-vu-bat-giu-ceo-telegram-pavel-durov-284295.html