Arrested Saturday at Le Bourget airport, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was taken into police custody as part of a judicial investigation opened on 12 charges. Among them: complicity in the possession of child pornography, drug trafficking or refusal to cooperate with the authorities during investigations.
A long, long list of charges. This Monday, August 26, the prosecutor’s office in Paris clarified the reasons for the arrest of Telegram messaging founder Pavel Durov that took place on Saturday at Le Bourget airport. In a press release published almost 48 hours after the arrest of the 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire, the authority reveals that his police custody is taking place within the framework of “A judicial investigation was opened on July 8 against an anonymous person following a preliminary investigation by the J3 department (the fight against cybercrime – JUNALCO) of the public prosecutor’s office in Paris”. And that this applies to at least 12 possible offences.
In the list, we find allegations of complicity in the possession of the image of child pornography, drug trafficking as well as organized gang fraud. In addition, there is a count of criminal association to commit a crime or offense punishable by at least 5 years of imprisonment and money laundering of crimes or offenses by an organized gang. Finally, he is accused of refusing to communicate with the authorities “the information or documents necessary to carry out and pursue interventions authorized by law;. In short: Telegram refuses to cooperate with the police or the gendarmerie services in the context of investigations.
A few hours earlier this Monday, Emmanuel Macron tweeted confirming that “fake news” in circulation after the arrest of Pavel Durov regarding the French position. “The arrest of the president of Telegram on French territory was made as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. This is not a political decision. declaration to the Head of State on X, in response to those rumours.
I am reading false information here regarding France after the arrest of Pavel Durov.
France is associated with freedom of speech and communication, innovation and entrepreneurship. It will remain so.
In a state of law,…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 26, 2024
Pavel Durov was arrested on the evening of Saturday, August 24, at Paris-Le Bourget airport, in the north of Paris. He then came from Baku and was going to spend the evening in the French capital. He was immediately taken into custody. This measure was “extended on August 25, 2024 by an investigating judge and may last up to 96 hours taking into account the procedure applicable to offenses falling under the organized crime regime”the prosecution states. The latter finally announced that the police custody of Pavel Durov was extended until Wednesday 28 August. The investigations were entrusted to the center for the fight against digital crime (C3N) and the national anti-fraud office (Onaf).
Updated: at 9:38 pm, police custody of Pavel Durov was extended until Wednesday.