Investigating choose ends Durov’s police custody and could have him delivered to court docket, Paris prosecutor’s workplace says.
Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov has been despatched to see a French investigative choose who is because of resolve whether or not to position him underneath formal investigation after his arrest as a part of a probe into organised crime on the social media and messaging app.
Durov’s detention after he landed in Paris on a personal jet on Saturday has put the highlight on the legal legal responsibility of app suppliers and fuelled debate on where freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the regulation begins.
“An investigating choose has ended Pavel Durov’s police custody and could have him delivered to court docket for a primary look and a doable indictment,” an announcement from the Paris Prosecutor’s Workplace mentioned on Wednesday.
Being positioned underneath formal investigation in France doesn’t indicate guilt or essentially result in trial however signifies that judges contemplate there is sufficient to the case to proceed with the probe. Investigations can final years earlier than being despatched to trial or shelved.
The choose’s choice was anticipated by 8pm (18:00 GMT), 96 hours after Durov was taken into custody, the utmost interval he could be detained earlier than a call is made.
If Durov, who’s a French citizen, is positioned underneath formal investigation, judges will even resolve whether or not to place him in pretrial detention. One issue they’ll contemplate is whether or not he might attempt to flee.
The general investigation at this stage is directed in opposition to unspecified folks. It focuses on suspected complicity in crimes, together with operating an internet platform that permits illicit transactions, possessing photos of kid intercourse abuse, drug trafficking, fraud, refusing to cross data to authorities and offering cryptographic providers to criminals, prosecutors mentioned.
The prosecutor’s workplace didn’t say which crime or crimes Durov himself could be suspected of.
Durov’s French lawyer didn’t reply to repeated requests from the Reuters information company for remark.
In an announcement on Monday, Telegram mentioned it abided by European Union legal guidelines and its moderation was “inside trade requirements and continually bettering”.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels ceaselessly in Europe,” it mentioned. “It’s absurd to say {that a} platform, or its proprietor, are liable for abuse of that platform.”
Along with Russia and France, Durov can be a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The UAE Overseas Ministry mentioned Tuesday that it was “carefully following the case” and had requested France to offer Durov “with all the required consular providers in an pressing method.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned he hoped that Durov “has all the required alternatives for his authorized defence” and added that Moscow stands “prepared to offer all needed help and help” to the Telegram CEO as a Russian citizen.
“However the state of affairs is sophisticated by the truth that he’s additionally a citizen of France,” Peskov mentioned.
Confronted with accusations from Russia and X proprietor Elon Musk that France is stifling freedom of speech with Durov’s arrest, President Emmanuel Macron took the weird step on Monday of posting on X about what he referred to as “false data”.
Macron mentioned Monday that Durov’s arrest wasn’t a political transfer however a part of an impartial investigation. Macron wrote that his nation “is deeply dedicated” to freedom of expression however “freedoms are upheld inside a authorized framework, each on social media and in actual life, to guard residents and respect their basic rights.”