They don't have to be friends to turn a blind eye.
If Dubai had to pick between letting some nobody foreign national living on their soil get squeezed by a foreign secret police, or pissing off the Russians, what do you think they would do?
(This isn't a knock on Dubai specifically, substitute them for almost any non-NATO country in the world).
I mentioned it because people very easily single out Russia and I think that's quite the outdated sentiment. I'd start with USA, North Korea, China, Russia and Iran -- again, just as a start, and I am sure there are many others that can't be trusted.
Where Telegram's devs and business resides hardly matters IMO. If somebody truly wants to put them under their boot they'll find a way, and that goes for probably half the countries on this planet.
You didn't "mention" it, you implied that I believed this, when it wasn't even part of the discussion. You can believe whatever you want, but you really shouldn't accuse others of such things.
Also: this whole topic is about a Russian company/app and Russian citizens living in Dubai. What other country would we be talking about here, exactly?
If Dubai had to pick between letting some nobody foreign national living on their soil get squeezed by a foreign secret police, or pissing off the Russians, what do you think they would do?
(This isn't a knock on Dubai specifically, substitute them for almost any non-NATO country in the world).