Telegram Controversy: The arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram’s chief executive, occurred on Saturday evening at Bourget airport near Paris. He was arrested because of an arrest warrant issued by French authorities as part of a preliminary police investigation. According to reports, a woman named Juli Vavilova, associated with Durov, is in custody and being interrogated.
Julii Vavilova had travelled with Pavel Durov several times before his arrest. They had passed through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan before coming to France, where the police detained them upon their arrival at Le Bourget airport near Paris.
Who Is Juli Vavilova?
Juli Vavilova, a 24-year-old woman from Dubai, describes herself as a crypto instructor and social media influencer on her Instagram profile. Her posts focus on travel, gaming, exercise, and cryptocurrency. She is active on several social media platforms, including Telegram, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube, where she shares diverse content. Vavilova is said to speak English, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic fluently.
Some unconfirmed speculations on social media have linked her to Mossad, though authorities have never confirmed this either way. What her exact role was in the detention of Pavel Durov is not clear.
Her social media, especially photos with Pavel Durov in Paris, are causes for concern in the crypto community. As such, people believe she might have inadvertently exposed their location to investigators.
According to the AFP news agency, nothing has been heard from Juli Vavilova since Durov’s arrest. The police are working on the fact that Telegram did nothing to moderate the content published on the site, which is why illegal activities are flourishing there.
Durov is an outspoken free speech advocate, particularly at a time when online freedom of expression is increasingly hampered globally. Free speech advocates, such as Elon Musk and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, have spoken out in his support. Hundreds of social media users also demand his release.
