Why was Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was detained in France for complicity in criminal activity. Some, including the Russian government, have called it an attack on free speech. What’s behind the uproar, and what’s at stake?
In this episode:
- Tristan Redman (@TristanAJE), Al Jazeera Producer
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li, Amy Walters, and Sonia Bhagat, with Duha Mossad, Shraddha Joshi, Veronique Eshaya, Hagir Saleh, and our host Natasha Del Toro, in for Malika Bilal.
It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
Connect with us:
@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, the uproar over the arrest of Telegram's CEO. |
| 0:15.0 | The arrest of Pavel Durov means that there is no freedom of speech, that the freedom of speech in Europe is dead. |
| 0:23.6 | Duraov's case will be watched with interest, not least by his competitors. |
| 0:28.6 | What message does the arrest send? |
| 0:31.6 | I'm Natasha Deltoro, and this is the take. |
| 0:47.5 | I think most people in this country, they see something like the arrest of Pavel Doroff, and they assume that something is going on behind the scenes. |
| 0:59.0 | I'm Tristan Redman, and I'm talking to you from France where I'm Al-Dazeri English Bureau producer in Paris. |
| 1:01.6 | So Tristan, we're speaking with you today because of Telegram CEO Pavel de Rov. |
| 1:07.4 | The chief executive of the messaging app, Telegram, has been arrested by French authorities. |
| 1:12.6 | French authorities arrested him Saturday in Paris, but he was released Wednesday morning. |
| 1:18.7 | Primony charges have been put to him for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app. |
| 1:25.2 | They've barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. |
| 1:29.0 | Now, what was the reason given for his arrest |
| 1:32.0 | and what's the latest? |
| 1:34.7 | Well, we think, according to prosecutors, |
| 1:37.9 | the reason he was arrested |
| 1:39.0 | was because of an investigation |
| 1:40.4 | that was opened in July |
| 1:42.4 | into alleged offenses around telegram linked to drug trafficking, organized crime, potential promotion of quote-unquote terrorism. |
| 1:54.0 | But most importantly, a generalized lack of cooperation by Telegram with French authorities to do with various different investigations that were going on. |
| 2:04.7 | It's that lack of cooperation which seems to be bothering the French authorities the most. |
... |
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