French investigative judges are due to decide on Wednesday (28) whether to place Russian billionaire Telegram owner Pavel Durov under formal investigation following his arrest as part of a probe into organised crime on the messaging app.
Durov’s arrest after he landed at an airport near Paris in a private jet on Saturday night (24) has put the spotlight on the criminal liability of app providers and fueled debate over where free speech ends and law enforcement begins.
The judges’ decision is expected at 3 p.m. Brasília time, 96 hours — or four days — after Durov was detained, the maximum period he can be held before they decide whether to place him under formal investigation.
Politico reported that French authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Durov’s brother Nikolai, who is a co-founder of Telegram, and that warrants targeting both brothers were issued in March.
Asked for comment, the Paris prosecutor’s office said it does not comment on arrest warrants because they are covered by the confidentiality of the investigation. At this stage, the only person being questioned in the case is Pavel Durov, it said.
Durov’s arrest also highlighted the difficult relationship between Telegram, which has about 1 billion users, and governments.
President Emmanuel Macron, who with his team uses Telegram to communicate, had lunch with Durov in 2018 as part of a series of meetings the French leader had with technology entrepreneurs, a source close to Macron said.
Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to a trial, but it does indicate that judges consider there is enough in the case to proceed with the investigation. Investigations can last for years before being sent to trial or shelved.
If Durov, who has been in police custody since his arrest, is placed under formal investigation, judges will also decide whether to remande him. One of the factors they will consider is whether he could attempt to flee.
A source at the Paris prosecutor’s office said an update on the investigation would likely be released on Wednesday evening.
Investigation
The general investigation is, at this stage, directed against unspecified persons.
The focus is on suspected complicity in crimes including running an online platform that allows illicit transactions; possession of images of child sexual abuse; drug trafficking; fraud; refusal to pass on information to authorities; and providing cryptographic services to criminals, prosecutors said.
The prosecutor’s office did not say what crime or crimes Durov himself might be suspected of.
Durov’s French lawyer did not respond to repeated requests for comment from Reuters via email and phone calls.
In a statement on Monday, Telegram said it complied with European Union laws and that its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving.”
“Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently around Europe,” he said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, is responsible for the abuse of that platform.”
Faced with accusations from Russia, and also from Elon Musk, that freedom of expression had been suppressed with Durov’s arrest, Macron took the unusual step on Monday of issuing a message on X about what he said was “false information”.
France, he said, was committed to freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary, which he said had single-handedly decided to arrest Durov.
A source close to the matter reiterated on Wednesday that Macron and his government had nothing to do with the arrest.
The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a Wall Street Journal report that French and United Arab Emirates authorities hacked Durov’s phone in 2017. Durov has held French citizenship since 2021.
This content was originally published in French court rules on Russian owner of Telegram this Wednesday on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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