AFP, Sputnik, Europa Press and Reuters

The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, August 27, 2024, p. 30

Paris. Telegram founder Pavel Durov remains in police custody since his arrest in France on Saturday, charged with 12 offences including running an online platform that facilitates illegal transactions by organised groups; refusing to provide authorities with information required for law-enforced interceptions; and possessing and distributing pornographic images of minors, among others.

Durov was arriving from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and had planned to have dinner in Paris when he was arrested last Saturday as part of an investigation by the cybercrime department of the Prosecutor’s Office.

39 years old and with a fortune of 15.5 billion dollars –according to the magazine Forbes– Durov faces up to 20 years in prison for alleged complicity in drug trafficking, money laundering, as well as for providing cryptography services (aimed at ensuring confidentiality functions for the platform’s users) without proper declaration, according to the official statement.

Telegram claims that it is It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse..

Elon Musk, owner of the social network X (who is criticized for having eliminated the filters that prevented the dissemination of hate messages, among others included in the old Twitter), assured that freedom of expression is being attacked in Europe.

His native Russia and the United Arab Emirates (a country of which Durov is also a citizen, as is France and Saint Kitts and Nevis) have requested the possibility of offering consular assistance to the detainee, although the Kremlin has declined to comment, as it is unaware of the charges brought against him by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

French President Emmanuel Macron denied yesterday that Durov’s arrest was policy. It is up to the justice system, in total independence, to enforce the law, the president insisted.