Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's arrest not political — Macron

French-Russian tech billionaire Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, will remain in French custody, with authorities extending his detention into Monday according to media reports.

After a maximum 96-hour initial detention for questioning, a judge can either free the 39-year-old or press charges and keep him in further custody.

With Russia and Elon Musk leading a charge of questions, claims, and demands for Durov's release, French President Emmanuel Macron took to X, formerly Twitter, to denounce baseless speculation, saying: "I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov."

"France," Macron continued, "is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication," adding: "The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision."

Arrest warrant for serious crimes including drugs and money laundering

Durov, the target of a French arrest warrant, was taken into custody after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday, arriving from Azerbaijan.

Currently, he is being investigated by a Gendarmerie cybersecurity unit and a National Police anti-fraud unit.

France's OFMIN, an agency tasked with preventing violence against minors, issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses including: fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism.

Durov is accused of failing to curb of Telegram's criminal use.

"Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards," said the company in response to such accusations.

"Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe," according to a statement published Sunday, "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."

Kremlin: 'Don't know what he is accused of'

Russia's Paris embassy said it demanded access to Durov but got no response from French officials, remarking, "the French side is refusing to cooperate."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said French authorities have been called upon to allow consular access.

"The only problem is that Durov also has French citizenship," said Zakharova. "Accordingly, France will regard him, first and foremost, as its citizen."

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "We do not know concretely what Durov is accused of. We have not heard any official declaration on this subject."

"Before saying anything, we need to wait for the situation to become clearer... Without that, it would be inappropriate to comment," he said.

Telegram: Russia's largest encrypted messaging service

Durov, who left Russia in 2014, was forced to abandon his first tech project, the Russian social network VKontakte (VK), after it ran into ownership problems he blamed on the Kremlin.

For his second project, Durov created the Dubai-based encrypted messaging service Telegram with his brother Nikolai in 2013.

The company has attempted to portray itself as a "neutral" and private alternative to US-owned platforms that are often criticized for their commercial exploitation of users' data.

Political and military authorities in Russia and Ukraine rely heavily on Telegram to publish content and communicate.

Despite owning the biggest messaging and video platform in Russia, Durov's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin is unclear.

UAE 'closely following case of its citizen'

The UAE has meanwhile announced it was closely following the case of Durov, whom it identified as one of its citizens.

The Arab country added in a Foreign Ministry statement late on Monday that it had submitted a request to France to provide him with "all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner."

js/wd (AFP, dpa, Reuters)