French President Emmanuel Macron said that Pavel Durov's arrest occurred "as part of an ongoing judicial investigation". The Russian billionaire was arrested on Saturday night at a Paris airport.
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00:00Moscow has accused France of free speech double standards after the arrest of Pavel Durov,
00:05Russian billionaire and also the founder of the Telegram messaging platform.
00:10The arrest late on Saturday night prompted a stern warning from the Kremlin to the LSA palace
00:16that Durov should be accorded his full rights, further aggravating the already tense relationship
00:22between both countries. On Sunday night, French authorities decided to extend
00:27Durov's detention period for not curbing enough offenses allegedly on the Telegram platform,
00:35such as for example, fraud, drug trafficking, organized crime and even promotion of terrorism.
00:42Durov could be held up to 96 hours for questioning. After the end of this detention
00:47period, a judge can then decide whether to set him free or to press charges against him.
00:53French president Emmanuel Macron insisted on Monday afternoon that Durov's arrest was in no
00:58way a political move. Russia's embassy in Paris said that they had tried to get in touch with
01:05Durov but said that the French side was not cooperating with them and that's because
01:10Durov also holds a dual nationality with France. Sofia Katzenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.