Russia says Telegram boss Durov is a victim of his own independence

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Pavel Durov, the Telegram boss arrested in France, was “too free” in his approach to running the social media platform, and this was his undoing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

A French judge put Russian-born Durov under formal investigation last week for suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child sex abuse images, drug trafficking and fraud.

His lawyer has said it is “absurd” to suggest he should be held responsible for any crimes committed on the app, which has nearly 1 billion users and is widely popular in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries.

Lavrov, in a speech to students at Moscow’s elite MGIMO university run by the foreign ministry, echoed the Kremlin’s position that the probe into Durov is part of a larger political ploy by the West to exert power over Russia.

“Pavel Durov was too free,” Lavrov said. “He didn’t listen to Western advice on moderating his brainchild.”

Russia, after years of pressure on Durov and his tech ventures, has rallied behind him.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that there were no negotiations between the Kremlin and Durov, who also holds passports from France and the United Arab Emirates.

“The main thing is that what is happening in France does not turn into political persecution,” Peskov said last Thursday.

“We know that the president of France has denied any connection (of the case) with politics, but on the other hand, certain accusations are being made.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied any political motive in the tech entrepreneur’s detention.

Lavrov earlier warned that Durov’s arrest – the first of a major tech CEO – had plunged relations between Moscow and Paris to a new nadir.