Freedom Briefly: Telegram Founder Released from Prison, Now Faces High-Stakes Court Battle
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been taken from prison to a court in France, where it will be decided whether he will be released or prosecuted.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov (Photo: Getty).
Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov was transferred to a Paris court on August 28, where a decision will be made on whether he will be placed under formal investigation following his arrest last week, according to several sources.
AFP Citing a source, the period of Mr. Durov’s detention ended on August 28.
The Paris prosecutor’s office announced that Mr Durov will make his first court appearance, where the Telegram boss could face possible prosecution.
Unverified videos circulating on social media showed two cars with sirens and lights leaving the anti-fraud agency where Mr Durov was believed to be being held.
French police arrested Telegram boss Pavel Durov at Paris-Le Bourget airport on August 24 when his private plane from Azerbaijan landed in Paris.
The Russian-born businessman is charged with 12 crimes, including facilitating drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime, and facilitating the dissemination of child pornography. He is also under investigation for refusing to cooperate with cybercrime and financial crime investigations.
Mr. Durov was born and raised in Russia. He left Russia in 2014 after losing control of his former social networking company, Vkontakte.
He refused to comply with government demands to block opposition groups on the platform and would not hand over data on Ukrainian protesters to security services. He moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in August 2021. The businessman is said to be worth more than $15 billion.
Mr. Durov founded the Telegram platform in 2013. He moved to Dubai in 2017. The businessman currently holds citizenship in Russia, France, the UAE, Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram is one of the world’s largest social platforms, with nearly 1 billion users. Earlier this year, Mr. Durov said that some governments were trying to exert pressure, but Telegram remained neutral and unaffected by geopolitical factors.
In March, French authorities issued an arrest warrant not only for Pavel Durov but also for his brother Nikolay, a co-founder of Telegram, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that before obtaining a French passport, Pavel Durov had lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited him to move Telegram’s headquarters to Paris. However, the Russian billionaire is said to have turned down the offer.
Durov’s arrest has drawn sharp criticism from Russia, which has demanded an immediate explanation from France. Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has warned that France could pay a heavy price for the arrest of the Telegram founder.
In his first comments on the incident, French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed that Mr. Durov was arrested for a judicial investigation, not related to politics.