The Telegram boss was released from police custody on Wednesday, August 28, after his arrest on Saturday, August 24. He was arrested due to the platform’s lack of cooperation with the authorities during investigations into illegal content.
After nearly four days in police custody, Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, was finally transferred to justice on August 28, BFMTV learned, confirming information from AFP. Arrested this Saturday, August 24 after his plane landed at Le Bourget, the Franco-Russian is targeted because of the lack of moderation of the messaging application, which has nearly a billion users worldwide.
According to information from BFMTV, the investigating judge has ended Pavel Durov’s police custody with a view to an initial appearance interrogation and a potential indictment.
With nearly a billion users worldwide, the application, which also acts as a social network thanks to public channels that can accumulate hundreds of thousands of subscribers, is also known for not cooperating with the authorities in the event of an investigation.
Pedocriminal networks
It is because of this lack of cooperation that the courts cited twelve offences in the context of Pavel Durov’s arrest, including “complicity in the possession of an image of a minor of a child pornography nature” or “complicity in the acquisition, transport, possession, offer or transfer of narcotics”.
After Pavel Durov’s arrest, the Dubai-based Telegram app assured that it “complies with EU law”, including the DSA, the new European regulation requiring online platforms to deploy moderation tools. On August 28, the European Commission also clarified to Euronews that the DSA could not give rise to criminal prosecution or arrests, recalling that it was a Franco-French investigation.
Raphael Grably with Alexandra Gonzalez
