Why won’t Paris arrest CEOs of Renault or Citroën, since terrorists use cars, Dmitry Peskov has quipped
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has questioned France’s rationale for arresting Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, pointing to the absurdity of holding him accountable for crimes committed using his network.
The Russian tech entrepreneur was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport last week and subsequently charged with multiple offenses, including complicity in “administering an online platform” used by a criminal gang to conduct illicit activities and refusing to cooperate with authorities in their investigation.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Saturday, Peskov admitted that Russian authorities previously had “questions” for the tech billionaire, stressing that Moscow never tried to arrest him.
“Indeed, terrorists do use the Telegram network. But terrorists also use cars. Why don’t they arrest the CEOs of Renault or Citroën?” the Kremlin spokesman said when asked to comment on Durov’s arrest and whether he had a message for his “European colleagues.”
Pavel Durov, a St. Petersburg native who also holds citizenship in France, the United Arab Emirates, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, formally left Russia in 2014 after law enforcement accused him of refusing to grant Russian investigators access to terrorism suspects’ communications. The dispute was settled in 2020 when Russian telecoms announced they had no issues with Telegram.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Durov claimed that he had consistently refused to provide user data to any authorities, including US intelligence services, or to install a surveillance “backdoor” in the app, which has almost a billion monthly users.
The Russian billionaire’s arrest sparked outrage worldwide, with opinion leaders such as X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks accusing French authorities of attacking free speech.
Durov was released on bail on Wednesday and ordered to remain in France until the case against him concludes. If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
Telegram maintains that the company complies with EU laws and that its content moderation policies are “within industry standards.”
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