The CEO and creator of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, arrested at the Bourget airport outside of Paris on suspicion of violating laws pertaining to his messaging app.
According to local sources, Durov, 39, was travelling from Azerbaijan on his private jet when he was the target of a French arrest warrant that was issued as part of an initial probe on Sunday.
According to the AFP news agency, which cited officials speaking on condition of anonymity, Durov is accused of crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and organised crime by France’s OFMIN, an organisation that works to prevent violence against minors.
“CEO of the messaging app Telegram Pavel Durov arrested in France.”
The billionaire French-Russian is also charged with neglecting to take action against the inappropriate use of Telegram.
It is possible that Durov will be charged on Sunday, according to French media.
Both TF1 TV and BFM TV, citing anonymous sources, reported that the investigation was concentrated on the absence of moderators and that the police believed this to be the reason why criminal activity on the messaging app continued unchecked.”Enough of Telegram’s impunity,” an investigator told AFP, adding that they were shocked Durov entered France in spite of the warrant against him.
According to TASS, the Russian state news agency, the Russian embassy in France has requested consular access to Durov and that his rights be respected. This was reported on Sunday.
According to the embassy, France has “avoided engagement” in the Durov situation thus far. Durov’s attorney is in communication with Russian diplomats, the embassy stated.In 2013, Durov and his brother founded Telegram in Russia, which now has almost a billion users thanks to its appealing encryption features.
In 2014, he left the nation and travelled the world, stopping in places like Berlin, Germany’s capital, and San Francisco, California, to find a place for his business.
But following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Telegram emerged as the primary conduit for obscene and occasionally unfiltered content from both sides of the conflict.
Officials from both Russia and Ukraine, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, frequently use the app.
(Aljazeera)
