It appears that — at least for the next couple of weeks — he is back at home in Dubai, after spending the past seven months as a “guest” of French authorities.

You remember Pavel Durov, don’t you? He’s the multi-billionaire (about $15 billion at last count) citizen of Russia, where he was born, as well as France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the lovely Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. He made his entrepreneurial debut as the founder of Russian messaging service VKontakte, then left Russia to outdo himself by creating the famously encrypted Telegram service.

He left Russia as a result of government pressure to reveal confidential client information, which he refused to do as a matter of professional ethics. Last year, similar demands were made by the French government in connection with criminal investigations involving some Telegram subscribers . . . which he again refused. And so he has not been allowed to leave France pending resolution of charges brought against him for his failure to cooperate with their investigations.

Now it appears that the Paris prosecutor’s office has suspended “the obligations of judicial supervision” for a period of three weeks, from March 15th to April 7th. Mysteriously, no further details have been given as to the reason for, or the conditions of, his temporary release. [Joe Tidy, BBC, March 16, 2025.]

While France and the UAE are parties to an extradition treaty signed in 2007, I have to wonder what would stop a person with billions of dollars at his disposal from fleeing to a country that does not share an extradition treaty with France . . . other than personal integrity, that is. And considering his past willingness to leave his native country behind in order to stand by his principles, and his continuing fight to preserve those same principles . . . well, I would hope and expect that he will be back in France by April 7th.

As to whether I think he is right or wrong, I have asked myself whether I would risk everything to protect the privacy rights of suspected criminals who had, by contractual agreement, entrusted their confidential information to me. And I had only to recall my own long-ago history to know the answer.

It’s not an easy choice.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/25/25