WIRED published an article detailing the detention of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Paris, including how Durov exercised his right to a phone call.
WIRED published an article detailing the detention of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Paris, including how Durov exercised his right to a phone call.
On August 24, 2024, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was detained in France after his private plane landed at Le Bourget airport near Paris. He appeared to have no idea what was about to happen, WIRED reports, citing sources from French journalist Raphael Maychon.
According to them, during initial police interrogations, Durov behaved in an irritable and arrogant manner. He flaunted his connections, claiming that he had come to Paris to meet with Emmanuel Macron.
Durov also allegedly asked French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel, whose company NJJ Holding acquired lifecell and Datagroup-Volya, to be notified of his arrest. Politico.eu later reported that Durov even used his only phone to call Niel.
However, Devon Spurgeon, a public relations consultant for Telegram based in Washington, D.C., said that Durov was actually calling his assistant, not the French billionaire. Niel would not comment on this information.
No one from Telegram commented publicly on the situation immediately after the arrest. «I am in shock, and everyone close to Pavel feels the same. No one was prepared for this situation,» said a close associate of Durov, Georgy Lobushkin, a former head of public relations at the social network VK. He added that he was «very worried» about Telegram’s future if Durov remained in custody.
According to Mayochon’s sources, Durov slept in a cramped cell, although investigators made a «rare concession» by allowing him to receive a fresh set of clothes. During further interrogations, Durov claimed that he had not ignored law enforcement requests for his detention—the law enforcement simply «sent their requests to the wrong address.» Pavel Durov also stated that he had been in contact with French intelligence services on terrorism cases.
