Russian Telegram Founder Durov Charged in France and Left Behind Bars
French law enforcement officials have charged Russian Telegram founder Pavel Durov with 12 crimes on the messenger and the Paris prosecutor has extended his detention for another 48 hours.
This was reported by Reuters and the Paris Judicial Tribunal.
The French prosecutor's office clarified that Durov is suspected of the following:
- refusal to provide information necessary for investigations at the request of law enforcement agencies;
- complicity in drug trafficking;
- complicity in cybercrime;
- complicity in fraud;
- money laundering of the proceeds of crime;
- illegal provision of cryptographic services and privacy tools;
- complicity in the storage of pornographic content with minors.
Under the article on administering an online platform that allows the illegal circulation of prohibited products, content or services, Durov faces a sanction of 5 to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 to 500,000 euros.
As The Gaze previously reported, the founder of the Telegram messenger, Russian Pavel Durov, was detained in France on Saturday night.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the detention of the Telegram founder had no political motivation.