A Russian official suggests the Telegram founder could face further detention for resisting pressure from French intelligence.
Russian MP Aleksey Zhuravlev is advising Telegram’s Pavel Durov to leave France immediately. This follows Durov’s allegations that the DGSE, France’s foreign intelligence agency, pressured him to censor conservative viewpoints on the platform.
Earlier in May, Durov claimed the DGSE attempted to meddle in Romania’s elections by demanding censorship on Telegram, which he says he refused. The agency denied the allegations, but Durov reiterated his claims, accusing Paris of misusing investigations related to “terror” and “child porn” to pursue a political agenda.
“I would advise him to leave France as soon as possible – the risk of ending up behind bars again is too high, especially if he continues to resist the demands of the French intelligence services,” Aleksey Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
Zhuravlev believes Durov now understands the reality of “Western democracy,” where the law, according to Zhuravlev, can be manipulated for political gain. However, he suspects Durov may be trapped in the situation, possibly due to compromising information held against him.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also commented, accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of employing “barbaric” tactics to promote his foreign policy agenda.
“It appears that [President Emmanuel] Macron had Durov arrested not to address internal issues with the messenger, but to influence the elections in Romania – realizing that the candidate from the liberal dictatorship wouldn’t be able to win under any legal circumstances,” Zakharova posted on Telegram on Saturday.
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