France’s Macron says arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov wasn’t political

French President Emmanuel Macron said the arrest of the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, was part of an independent investigation.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest in France of the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation.

Durov was detained Saturday at Le Bourget airport in a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday.

It said in a statement that the suspected violations include complicity in selling child sexual abuse material and in drug trafficking, fraud, abetting organised crime transactions and refusing to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.

In France’s first public comment on the arrest, Macron posted on the social media platform X that his country “is deeply committed” to freedom of expression but “freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.”

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Denouncing what he called false information, Macron said the arrest “is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”

Durov's detention was extended until Monday night and can be prolonged until Wednesday evening before authorities must release or charge him, the prosecutor’s office said.