Telegram App Founder Arrested at French Airport

PAVEL Durov, the billionaire co-founder of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested on Saturday evening at Bourget airport near Paris, TF1 TV reported, citing an anonymous source.

Durov was travelling on a private jet, TF1 reported on its website, adding that he is wanted on an arrest warrant in France.

The 39-year-old is understood to have travelled from Azerbaijan and was detained at around 8pm local time (6pm GMT).

Durov was expected to appear in court on Sunday.

The Russian-born entrepreneur lives in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered, and holds dual citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates.

Durov, whose fortune Forbes estimates at $15.5bn (£12bn), left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to close opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.

Telegram did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The Russian embassy in France took “immediate steps” to clarify the situation.

The TASS news agency, citing a representative of the Russian embassy in France, reported that Durov’s team had not appealed to the embassy, ​​but that proactive measures had been taken to take “immediate” steps.

Durov and his brother Nikolai founded the messaging app in 2013, and it has about 900 million active users.

Telegram offers encrypted messaging, and users can also set up “channels” to quickly share information with their followers.