Paris, Aug 28 (EFE).- The French justice system on Wednesday charged the founder of the platform Telegram messenger Pavel Durov on charges ranging from whitening from crimes to complicity in the dissemination of paedophile images, and agreed to his release under police control and on bail of 5 million euros.
After taking his statement in Paris, the investigating judges ordered that he be charged with all the charges brought against him in the investigation phase, which amounted to a dozen.
“He has been placed under judicial surveillance, required to post a bail of 5 million euros, report to the police twice a week and be banned from leaving France,” Laure Beccuau, the top prosecutor in France, said in a statement.
The indictment of Durov, 39, came after he had been held in provisional custody for four days (the maximum legal period given the charges against him), following his arrest at the private airport of Le Bourget, near Paris, last Saturday.
crimes attributed to him
The list of crimes he is accused of includes complicity in the administration of an online platform to enable illicit transactions by organised gangs, complicity in fraud and trafficking.
Added to this, among other charges, is the alleged responsibility of the Russian-born billionaire for the dissemination of child sexual abuse material on Telegram.
He is also accused of failing to cooperate with the justice system by providing data and information on possible criminal acts and charges related to the operation and encryption of the messaging platform.
The French prosecutor’s office said Telegram, created in 2013, has been involved in multiple cases involving various offences (such as child pornography, online hate and drug trafficking) and that the company offered an “almost total lack of response” to judicial requests.
The investigation that led to Durov’s arrest was launched on a preliminary basis in February 2024 and involved several French agencies that fight cybercrime, organised crime and fraud.
“Other French investigative services and prosecutors’ offices, as well as several Eurojust partners, particularly Belgian ones, shared the same observation,” the French prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Durov and his personal life
Durov, who is a Russian citizen and also has French and UAE nationality, lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based.
Following the arrest of its founder and CEO on Saturday, Telegram issued a statement saying the platform “complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act” and that “its moderation is within industry standards and is constantly improving.”
“Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and frequently travels around Europe. It is absurd that a platform or its owner should be held responsible for abuses on their platform,” the statement added.
In addition to the charges in this case, it also came to light on Wednesday that he is also being investigated for alleged mistreatment of one of his sons in Paris.
The investigation was initiated following a complaint filed by Durov’s ex-partner in Switzerland, where she resides with the victim, who was born in 2017.
