French judges have issued preliminary charges against CEO Pavel Durov for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app.
Authorities have barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. Durov is both a Russian and French citizen.
Durov was arrested on Saturday after arriving at a Paris airport and taken into custody. He was released from police custody and transferred to a court earlier Wednesday.
A formal investigation, however, does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial. It means that authorities think there’s enough to place him under judicial supervision.
Durov is held with a bail set at €5 million ($5.56 million). He is also required to report to the police station twice a week.
Durov placed under formal investigation
Authorities opened a formal investigation into Durov on suspicion of insufficient cooperation with authorities regarding criminal investigations and aiding and abetting criminal offenses on his messaging app, among other things, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.
The 39-year-old was detained at a Paris airport on Saturday on a warrant related to Telegram’s lack of content moderation.
He was being investigated on charges relating to a number of crimes, including allegations that his platform was complicit in aiding drug trafficking, fraud and child abuse.
Upon being arrested, the Telegram boss was placed in custody for 96 hours, the maximum amount of time someone can be held under French law before being charged.
rm/wd (Reuters, AP)
The post France hands Telegram CEO Pavel Durov preliminary charges appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
