Pavel Durov. Photo: VK
A French court has indicted Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on multiple criminal charges, according to a press release shared with Novaya Gazeta Europe by the French Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday evening.
According to document, after his indictment Durov was released on a €5 million bail bond and placed under judicial supervision. The billionaire Telegram founder is also required to report to the police commissariat twice a week and is prohibited from leaving France.
Durov has been charged with administering a platform that permits illicit financial transactions, failure to provide information to the authorities concerning people being sought by the law, complicity in the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, organised crime and conspiracy to commit crimes, money laundering, and offering encryption services without the required legal permits.
Durov, who was arrested on Saturday evening upon arrival at Le Bourget Airport in Paris after flying to the French capital from Azerbaijan, was transferred to a courthouse in Paris earlier on Wednesday as he approached the maximum 96-hour period he could be detained without charges.
Durov’s assistant and bodyguard, who were detained alongside him on Saturday, were released from police custody after questioning on Tuesday.
The French Prosecutor’s Office issued a press release on Monday confirming that Durov was being questioned by investigators in connection to 12 offences, including running an online platform facilitating illegal transactions to organised crime groups, the possession and distribution of pornographic images of minors, drug trafficking, fraud, and offering encryption services to users without the necessary documentation.
Durov, who founded the popular Telegram messaging app in 2013, is estimated to be worth €13.9 billion. Despite being widely understood to be living in exile due to pressure from the Russian security services, Durov was revealed by independent media outlet IStories on Tuesday to have visited Russia over 50 times between 2015 and 2021.
French President Emmanuel Macron insisted on Monday that Durov’s arrest was not a political decision, while The Wall Street Journal revealed on Wednesday that the French secret services colluded with the United Arab Emirates to hack Durov’s phone in 2017 amid concerns that Islamic State was using Telegram to recruit militants.
