RUMINT: Telegram founder Pavel Durov went to France in his private jet knowing he would be arrested on purpose to avoid imminent Putin assassination attempt(s).
Putin had tried to shut down Telegram in 2018 but failed to do so. Durov left Russia years ago too.
Like I said. RUMINT right now.
@th3j35t3r jail is a safer place when Putin has a hit on yer head I guess even though he hasn't been in Russia since 2014 - Putin was sucesful in the VK social media takeover though Durov learned a lesson there "teachable moment" for him 😆
Telegram is based in Dubai after all Durov left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he then sold
He has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship now
And the French ere well versed in providing new identities. See Légion Etrangère.
The trick is getting narcissistic Russian oligarchs to shut the fuck up.
He actually got arrested for refusing to give information on one user who is under investigation for fraud, sharing child porn and other charges - during that investigation police found out that user uses Telegram - Telegram refused to help by not handing over data - Telegram has created a kind of jurisdictional obstacle course for law enforcement that (it says) none of them have successfully navigated so far. From the FAQ again:
@ecksmc @th3j35t3r
A US jail wouldn't be safe at all. Too easy to pay off a guard to organize other inmates to attack him for a few snacks at the commissary. French prisons may be more civilized.
More likely there was already an agreement where he would give the French/Interpol access to information to prosecute child porn purveyors in exchange for a non-custodial sentence and maybe a new identity.