Elizabeth Ndifon
Nigerian journalist, Eric Patrick has called on French government to immediately release the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov.
Condemning his detention, Eric Patrick said it is ridiculous and a slap on freedom of speech.
The journalist made this known in a statement released on Sunday.
Durov was arrested by French police after his private jet had landed at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Saturday, French media reported.
According to officials, the 39-year-old billionaire was detained in relation to an investigation about a lack of moderators on Telegram - which it has previously denied.
Mr Durov is accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal uses of Telegram. The app is accused of not cooperating with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.
His lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, stated that the accusations were similar to blaming a car manufacturer for an accident, or for its cars being used for crimes.
Pavel Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai. He holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.
The app was banned in Russia in 2018, after a previous refusal by him to hand over user data. The ban was reversed in 2021.
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