Durov was detained at Paris Le Bourget airport on Saturday when he had arrived by private plane from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Durov was detained by the air transport gendarmerie because he is on the list of wanted persons in France.
The investigating judge handling the case extended the detention of 39-year-old Durov beyond Sunday evening. The initial period of detention for questioning may not exceed 96 hours.
When this period of detention ends, the judge can decide whether to release Durov or press charges and keep him in custody.
France’s OFMIN, which is tasked with preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov following an initial investigation into possible crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, cyber mobbing, organized crime and promoting terrorism. Durov’s arrest warrant is only valid in France.
Durov is accused of not taking steps to limit the criminal use of his platform.
“Telegram” said that “Durov has nothing to hide and he often travels around Europe”.
“Telegram complies with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, and its moderation is in line with industry standards,” Telegram said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse of that platform.”
Durov founded Telegram in 2013 after his first project, the Russian social network VKontakte (VK), ran into difficulties that he blamed on the Kremlin. He left Russia in 2014.
Telegram has become extremely popular, in part due to the ease of watching and posting videos on its messaging channels.
But critics charge that it often hosts illegal content, ranging from extreme sexual images, disinformation and even drug-buying services.
The Russian embassy in Paris said it had requested access to Durov but had not received a response from France.
2024-08-26 21:08:30