President of the DAO Global Digital Alliance (GDA DAO) Yaroslav Bogdanov has appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to immediately end prosecution of Telegram owner Pavel Durov.

Earlier, the French publication Le Canard Chainé spread information that Pavel Durov told the French police the purpose of his visit to Paris. Journalists' sources from the Elysee Palace claim that Durov was supposed to have dinner with Emmanuel Macron on 24 August, but was taken into custody upon arrival in Paris.

“Emmanuel Macron should show discretion and political will in this situation by stopping Durov's prosecution. The presidential position of one of largest European powers does not allow Macron to be involved in these kind of insinuations by intelligence services against an authoritative figure in the digital industry,” said Yaroslav Bogdanov.

Macron's official statement on 26 August said that he fully trusts French law enforcers to decide Durov’s fate. The French president did not say a word about his direct or indirect involvement in the incident.

On 28 August - the day when Pavel Durov's pre-trial detention officially expired - it became known about the arrest warrant for his brother Nikolai. Politico claims that the French authorities issued the warrant back in March this year.

“When all the details of what is happening today with Durov become known, it will be difficult for France and personally its president, Emmanuel Macron, to convince the international community of their impartiality. The only chance for the Elysee Palace not to drown its reputation by participating in the harassment of Pavel Durov is to immediately refuse to prosecute both Durov and his brother,’ said Yaroslav Bogdanov.

Disputes between the authorities and the cyber industry should be resolved openly and fairly. This should be done through mechanisms that have been developed with modern realities in mind. The legal deadlock in which the entire IT sphere finds itself is due to the lack of a regulatory framework for the digital sphere.

“Solving issues by illegally persecuting individuals is more like the Medieval Inquisition than the rule of law of the 21st century. Modern problems require modern approaches and mechanisms. We propose to create a digital arbitration within GDA DAO - a structure for resolving disputes in the cyber industry. We propose through the interaction of all stakeholders to solve the key problem of our time - to ensure cyber security on a global scale for all - users, the state, business and the representatives of digital technologies themselves,’ said the president of the DAO Global Digital Alliance (GDA DAO).