Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Set to Appear in French Court After Weekend Arrest

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, will seem in a French courtroom on Wednesday following the arrest of the top of the favored social media and messaging platform on Saturday at an airport close to Paris.

He was initially detained as a part of an investigation into crimes allegedly deliberate or broadcast on Telegram. The crimes embrace cash laundering, drug trafficking, little one pornography and failure to cooperate with legislation enforcement authorities.

Police mentioned they launched him earlier than his courtroom look, resulting in some confusion — and a quick soar within the value of the TON cryptocurrency linked to Telegram — that he had been totally launched. In actuality, he was simply on his method to the courthouse.

Learn extra: Pavel Durov: the imperfect hero of free speech

“The investigating decide has launched Pavel Durov and had him seem in courtroom for an preliminary interrogation and a attainable indictment,” spokesperson and deputy prosecutor Maylis De Roeck mentioned in a press release.

In response to an indictment revealed by French authorities earlier this week, Durov is accused of being complicit within the administration of a web based platform that facilitates unlawful transactions, refusing to adjust to police requests for paperwork or different communications in ongoing investigations , and of being complicit within the distribution of kid exploitation materials and quite a few different prices.

He’s additionally accused of offering encryption providers with out constructing controls into Telegram.

Telegram mentioned in a press release revealed after Durov’s arrest that it was “abiding by the principles.” [European Union] legal guidelines” and its practices stay inside business requirements.

“It’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor is liable for the abuse of that platform,” Telegram mentioned in its assertion.