JUST IN: France Officially Indicts Telegram Founder Pavel Durov

Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of the popular news and messaging app Telegram, has been formally charged in France with allegedly facilitating numerous criminal transactions through his platform.

According to French prosecutors, Durov faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros ($555,750).

The charges levied against him include complicity in the spread of child sexual abuse materials, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement.

The Russian-born tech mogul was arrested on the tarmac as he got off his private jet from Azerbaijan on Saturday.

According to a machine translation of a report on TF1, “The Justice considers that the lack of moderation, cooperation with the police and the tools offered by Telegram (disposable number, cryptocurrencies, etc.) makes it complicit in drug trafficking, paedophile offences and fraud.”

Here is the list of charges against Durov published by the Tribunal Judiciaire of Paris:

• Complicity – web-mastering an online platform in order to enable an illegal transaction in organized group,
• Refusal to communicate, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions allowed by law,
• Complicity – possessing pornographic images of minors,
• Complicity – distributing, offering or making available pornographic images of minors, in organized group,
• Complicity – acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering or selling narcotic substances,
• Complicity – offering, selling or making available, without legitimate reason, equipment, tools, programs or data designed for or adapted to get access to and to damage the operation of an automated data processing system,
• Complicity – organized fraud,
• Criminal association with a view to committing a crime or an offense punishable by 5 or more years of imprisonment,
• Laundering of the proceeds derived from organized group’s offences and crimes,
• Providing cryptology services aiming to ensure confidentiality without certified declaration,
• Providing a cryptology tool not solely ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration,
• Importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration.

After being held in custody for four days, Durov was transferred to court to appear before a judge for his initial hearing and “potential indictment” on Wednesday, according to NPR.

NBC News reported:

Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of the news and messaging app Telegram, has been charged in France with enabling numerous criminal transactions, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros ($555,750), according to French prosecutors Wednesday.

It marks one of the few instances in which the CEO of a major internet platform has been charged over alleged criminal failure to moderate what users do on its platform.

In a statement Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said that Telegram had almost completely failed to respond to its legal requests for user data in prosecuting cybercrime cases.

Prosecutors cited numerous offenses in Wednesday’s statement, including refusal to communicate with authorities and “complicity” in offenses related to child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking,

While Durov awaits trial, his bail is set at 5 million Euros ($5.6 million). He will be forbidden to leave France and will be required to report to the police, the release said.

On Monday, French President Emanuel Macron tweeted out about Durov’s arrest and detention in prison. Macron insists it’s “not politically motivated” and that France really, truly is committed to freedom of expression – if it is approved by the tyrannical government.

Macron wrote:

“I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov.

France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.

In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.

It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law.

The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”

Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online Mike Benz claims that the U.S. State Department orchestrated Pavel Durov’s arrest to gain leverage over the billionaire, pressuring him to allow the government to monitor his platform.

Just got booted from the @MarioNawfal space so I’m gonna speak my peace here: what’s behind today’s arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov pic.twitter.com/FexLvJZK92

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) August 25, 2024

In an interview with Tucker Carlson in April, Durov said that the FBI expressed interest in creating a ‘backdoor’ into the Telegram app, ostensibly to spy on users.

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