NEW YORK, August 28. /TASS/. French and UAE intelligence agencies carried out a joint operation in 2017 to hack Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s phone, the Wall Street Journal writes, citing sources.
According to people familiar with the matter, the spy operation, code-named Purple Music, took place amid French security officials’ concerns that the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia) was using Telegram to recruit operatives and plan attacks.
The sources say that for years, Durov’s company "ignored subpoenas and court orders sent by law enforcement authorities, which piled up in a rarely checked company email address." Telegram, however, says that it complies with the European Union’s Digital Services Act. According to the paper, there is no indication that the hacking of Durov’s phone "played a role in his detention" in France on August 24.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that French President Emmanuel Macron invited Durov to move Telegram to Paris at a meeting in 2018, and discussed granting him French citizenship.
Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris on August 24; his custody was extended to 96 hours the next day. The Paris prosecutor’s office suspects him of complicity in drug trafficking, fraud crimes against children committed through Telegram.
The Russian embassy in France said diplomats had demanded that Durov’s rights be protected and he be provided with consular access. "So far, the French authorities have been evading cooperation on the matter," the embassy added.