Strange things can happen at an after-hours poker game in Lisbon with a Russian tech founder (who will remain confidential) who had a crazy theory—maybe not that crazy—that the Russians are likely using Pavel to negotiate a deal between the French government and Russia.
Telegram boss and founder Pavel Durov has been placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into organised crime on the messaging app, Paris prosecutors say.
Mr Durov, 39, has not been remanded in custody but placed under judicial supervision and has to pay a €5m (£4.2m; $5.6m) deposit.
The Russian-born billionaire, who is also a French national, must also show up at a French police station twice a week and is not allowed to leave French territory.
Mr. Durov was first detained upon arrival at Le Bourget airport north of Paris last Saturday under a warrant for offenses related to the app. -BBC News
When considering the arrest of Pavel Durov, it’s crucial to remember that in the world of international politics and intelligence, things are rarely as they seem.
Durov’s detention in Paris could be more than just a legal maneuver—this might be a high-stakes play in a broader geopolitical chess game. Russia’s immediate response, branding the arrest as politically motivated, suggests they’re viewing this through a lens of strategy and power dynamics.
Durov recently sat down with Tucker Carlson in his Dubai offices for an in-depth interview, rare for this man who does not like to do interviews. It’s all in the video below and I think you’ll find it quite interesting.
In one takeaway message from their discussion, reiterated in The Washington Post, Durov states:
“Humanity needs a neutral messaging app like Telegram that respects people’s privacy and Freedom.”
It’s not unheard of for arrests to be used as leverage, especially when the individual in question holds the kind of influence Durov does through Telegram. If this was a calculated move, it wouldn’t be the first time an intelligence agency used a high-profile arrest to gain an upper hand in negotiations.
Take Maria Butina’s case as a prime example of how arrests can be weaponized in the arena of global politics. Butina, a Russian national, was arrested in the U.S. back in 2018, accused of operating as an unregistered foreign agent. The charges? Allegedly trying to infiltrate conservative circles to push Russian agendas. This wasn’t just another criminal case; it escalated into a significant diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and Russia. Moscow slammed the arrest as a political hit job, and it quickly became clear that Butina was more than just a defendant—she was a pawn in a much larger game. After she served her sentence, the U.S. sent her back to Russia, but not before both sides used her case as a bargaining chip in their ongoing geopolitical tug-of-war.
In the complex arena of international relations, where power plays out in the shadows, arrests like that of Maria Butina remind us that the law is often just one piece of the puzzle. These situations are never as straightforward as they seem; they’re part of a broader strategic game where every move counts. As we’ve seen time and again, the stakes in these global chess matches are high, and the outcomes often shape the course of future diplomacy. In the end, it’s not just about justice—it’s about influence, control, and who holds the upper hand (in my case, I was $120 Euro up in poker!).
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