France could not have detained Durov without nod of US

French President Emmanuel Macron “could or would have done that without the encouragement or at least agreement of the Biden administration,” Tucker Carlson said France’s authorities could not have detained Telegram messenger co-founder Pavel Durov without agreeing this step with the US President Joe Biden administration, US journalist Tucker Carlson said.

“That’s a big step, very hard for a bystander without direct knowledge being me to believe that [French President Emmanuel] Macron could or would have done that without the encouragement or at least agreement of the Biden administration,” he said in a video posted on his X page.

Durov, one of the world’s most influential tech icons, was detained at Paris’ Le Bourget Airport late on August 24. On Wednesday, a court in Paris charged him with six out of 12 offences named previously, the capital prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The charges include the refusal to cooperate with the authorities, complicity in dissemination of child pornography, complicity in drug trafficking and in a fraud, committed within an organized group. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, he may face a prison term of up to ten years and a fine of 500,000 euro.

The judge in charge of Durov’s case placed him under judicial control with an obligation to post a bail of 5 million euros, to report to the police station twice a week and he is forbidden to leave the territory of France.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Durov’s detention was not politically motivated. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that France’s stance on the issue shows that the values, including freedom of speech, that the country previously upheld are being destroyed, rather than ignored.