Durov, a Russian-born French-Emirati citizen, was arrested late Saturday night and is still being held as part of an investigation into allegations of child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime on the Telegram messaging platform, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that it was “in no way a political decision” to arrest Durov.
Peskov added that Russia hopes “Mr. Durov will have all the necessary opportunities for his legal defense. Of course, given his Russian citizenship, we are ready to provide all the necessary assistance and support. But the situation is complicated by the fact that he is also a French citizen.”
The United Arab Emirates earlier asked the French government for consular access to Durov. The Telegram CEO can be held in police custody in Paris until Aug. 28.
Peskov also denied reports that the Kremlin ordered officials to delete their Telegram chat history after Durov’s arrest and said they’re not meant to use messenger apps for official business in the first place.
“Purging communications is utter stupidity. Officials should not use messengers for official purposes. No messenger is reliable in terms of information security — not even Telegram. […] Therefore, of course, no one is asking anyone to clean anything,” Peskov said.
Telegram is approaching 1 billion users worldwide and is a key communication tool for political dissidents, gangsters and criminals — and on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.