France claims that Telegram’s lack of moderation and Pavel Durov’s failure to cooperate with authorities, along with the tools the platform offers, such as disposable numbers and encryption, make him complicit in crimes such as drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud.
The French authorities they have arrested on Saturday night at Pavel Durovco-founder of Telegram, the Russian-based encrypted instant messaging platform, as he disembarked from his private plane on the runway at Paris-Le Bourget airport, coming from Azerbaijan, according to local media reports.
The 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire, who was arrested by the Gendarmerie de Transport Aéroports, had a French arrest warrant issued by the Office for Minors (OFMIN) of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation on the basis of a preliminary investigation.
French justice maintains that the lack of moderation on Telegram and Pavel Durov’s lack of cooperation with the authorities, together with the tools that the platform offers, such as disposable numbers and encryption, make him complicit in crimes such as drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud.
The Telegram co-founder is expected to appear before an investigating judge in the coming hours where he could face charges including terrorism, drug trafficking, complicity, fraud, money laundering, and distribution of pedophile content, among other charges, according to French media reports.
Telegram is an instant messaging application for electronic devices launched in 2013 by Durov and his brother Nikolai as an alternative to the WhatsApp application. It is based in Dubai, where Durov has resided since 2017.
Durov has Russian citizenship, but also French citizenship, which he received in 2021, and citizenship of the United Arab Emirates.
Russian deputies and senators demand the release
Russian lawmakers and senators have demanded the release of Pavel Durov on Sunday. Vladislav Davankov, deputy speaker of the Duma, has urged Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to call on the French authorities to release Pavel Durov, stressing that “hardly anyone has done more for the development of digital services in Russia and around the world.”
He and other Russian lawmakers and senators have expressed suspicions that the arrest is politically motivated and aimed at accessing confidential information of Telegram users.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, for his part, has said that for Moscow’s enemies Durov “is Russian and, therefore, unpredictable and dangerous.”
Elon Musk calls for freedom for Durov
X owner and tycoon Elon Musk has called for the release of Pavel Durov.
Source: Eitb
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