- Macron defends granting fast-track citizenship to indicted Telegram CEO
- Durov charged in France for “complicity” in illegal activities on Telegram
- Tech leaders and Russia criticize the arrest as a threat to free speech
French President Emmanuel Macron has defended his decision to award fast-track citizenship to indicted Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.
During a news conference during his visit to Serbia, Macron stated that awarding nationality to high-profile persons who learn French and contribute to the country is “good for our country.”
Macron’s approach aims to grant French nationality to individuals, including artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs, who invest in learning the language and creating wealth and innovation.
Macron said he had just learned Durov was on his way to France when his detention on Saturday after Le Canard Enchaine reported that Durov informed police he planned to meet with the French president.
“I was completely unaware of Mr Durov’s arrival in France,” Macron stated, describing Durov’s arrest as “an independent act of French justice.”
“It is incorrect that I extended an invitation to him.
“We are a country where there is a separation of powers,” Mr. Macron said.
French prosecutors have charged Durov with “complicity” in illegal behavior on the messaging service Telegram, which includes drug trafficking and the spreading of child sex abuse material.
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They further accuse the Russian-born billionaire of refusing to divulge papers requested by law police.
Durov’s lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, has called it “completely absurd” to implicate the proprietor of a social network in crimes that “do not concern him, directly or indirectly.”
Durov’s arrest has rekindled long-simmering concerns about free expression, privacy, and policing violence online.
Prominent tech innovators and internet freedom supporters, including X’s Elon Musk, whistleblower Edward Snowden, and ProtonMail creator Andy Yen, have slammed French authorities over the case, calling it a threat to free expression.
Russia has also expressed alarm, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov asking French authorities not to turn the investigation into a “political persecution.
