On August 29, French President Emmanuel Macron gave a press conference during his diplomatic visit to Serbia. During the live-streamed visit, Macron told journalists that he had not invited Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov to France and that he was not aware of his presence in the country. According to a translation of Macron’s response, the French president said:
“As far as I am concerned, I was completely unaware of the arrival of Mr. Durov in France. And that is quite normal, because I am not aware of the arrival of people from all over the world, regardless of whether they have French nationality or not.”
Macron then stressed that Durov’s case would be handled by the “independent French judiciary.”
Durov has been formally charged by French authorities and is currently free on €5 million bail, but must remain in the country and report to authorities on a weekly basis.
Macron receives a lot of criticism
Following Durov’s arrest, Macron was immediately criticized by the international community, including crypto and tech industry executives, with some even comparing France to the Soviet Union and other authoritarian regimes.
Macron’s claim that the arrest was not politically motivated has also been questioned by many. Gabor Gurbacs, former director of digital strategy at VanEck, responded by saying: “You arrest someone and then investigate whether he has done something wrong? Is this what you mean by ‘rule of law’ and ‘freedom of expression’?”
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, sharply criticized the French president: “Why aren’t you in prison yourself because you can’t prevent 100% of all crimes in France?”
The Solana developer added: “You can’t hold founders personally responsible and give them up to 20 years in prison for not policing speech while claiming to be committed to free speech.”
Concerns about the future of freedom of expression
Durov’s arrest has raised concerns about a broader attack on decentralized technologies and entrepreneurs committed to free speech.
As a result, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski decided to leave Europe after his company reportedly received threats from French authorities.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/macron-ontkent-uitnodiging-pavel-durov-naar-frankrijk/
