French authorities charge Durov in Telegram organized crime probe

A French judge on Wednesday opened a formal investigation into Telegram boss Pavel Durov in a probe into organized crime via the messaging app. However, the entrepreneur was granted bail on the condition that he pay 5 million euros, report to police twice a week and stay outside France.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement that the judge considered there were grounds to formally investigate Durov on all the charges for which he was arrested four days ago.

Examples include suspected complicity in running an online platform that facilitates illegal transactions, child sexual abuse images, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as refusing to provide information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

Durov’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In France, being formally investigated does not mean guilt or that there will necessarily be a trial, but indicates that judges believe there is enough evidence to continue the investigation. Investigations can last years before they are sent to court or suspended.

The judge made the ruling after Russian-born Durov was arrested at an airport near Paris on Saturday evening.

Durov’s arrest has fueled debate over where free speech ends and law enforcement begins. It also underscores the uneasy relationship between governments and Telegram, which has nearly a billion users, while serving as a warning shot to tech giants that refuse to comply with authorities over perceived illegality on their platforms.

Russia’s state news agency RIA published a video on Telegram that appeared to show Durov, dressed in black with a baseball cap and sunglasses, leaving the prosecutor’s office and getting into a waiting vehicle. Reuters could not verify the footage.

According to Beccuau, Telegram had been used in several criminal cases and Telegram’s “almost total lack of response to judicial requests” eventually attracted the attention of the cybercrime unit of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“Other French investigative services and public prosecutors, but also several partners within Eurojust, in particular the Belgian ones, shared the same observation,” Beccuau said of Telegram’s lack of compliance.

This prompted the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office to launch an investigation “into the possible criminal liability of the administrators of this messaging service in committing these crimes,” the spokesperson said in her statement.

The investigation began in February and was conducted by the National Bureau for Minors, with preliminary charges filed in July, Beccuau said.

Telegram has barely responded to Durov’s arrest.

In a statement Monday, the company said it complies with European Union laws and that its moderation “falls within industry standards and is continuously improving.”

“Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels regularly across Europe,” the magazine said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, is responsible for the abuse of that platform.”

Diplomatic waves

The arrest of Durov, who has dual French and Russian citizenship, had major diplomatic consequences and strained relations between Paris and Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that relations between the two countries have reached a low point.

France accuses Russia of trying to destabilize the country in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Paris. This is said to be a response to France’s aggressive stance on the war in Ukraine. Russia denies these allegations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday that Russia was ready to provide Durov with all necessary assistance given his Russian citizenship, but that his French nationality complicated the situation. Durov also holds a UAE passport.

Telegram has become crucial for battlefield communications in the war in Ukraine, used by governments and soldiers on both sides of the conflict to share news and propaganda.

Telegram positions itself as a haven for free speech, but is also widely used by far-right movements, anti-vaccination and conspiracy movements, and political dissidents.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is known as an avid user of the app, has said Durov’s arrest was “in no way a political decision”, adding that France supports freedom of expression.

Macron had lunch with Durov in 2018 as part of a series of meetings with tech entrepreneurs, a source close to the president said. In 2021, Durov was granted French citizenship, a rare procedure for prominent figures.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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