UAE seeks consular services for arrested Telegram boss

DUBAI: The UAE said on Tuesday it had requested consular services for Telegram´s Pavel Durov after the Dubai-based tech boss was arrested in France over alleged failings to curb criminality on the app.

“The UAE is closely following the case of its citizen Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, who was arrested by the French authorities in Paris-Le Bourget Airport,” the Gulf state´s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The UAE has submitted a request to the Government of the French Republic to provide him with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner,” it added.

Durov, the 39-year-old billionaire founder of the messaging platform, was arrested at the Paris airport late on Saturday.

He is accused of failing to curb the spread of illegal content on Telegram, which has more than 900 million users. The company has rejected the accusations.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday denied there was a political aspect to Durov´s arrest as the internet mogul spent a second day in French custody.

Late Monday, French authorities again extended his initial detention for questioning until Wednesday, according to a source close to the investigation.

Durov set up Telegram after leaving Russia a decade ago, and Forbes magazine estimates his current fortune at $15.5 billion.