Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Charged With Numerous Crimes In France

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was formally charged in France this week for a wide range of alleged crimes stemming from his refusal to cooperate with law enforcement officials investigating crimes occurring on the encrypted communication platform.

French authorities detained the 39-year-old Russian billionaire over the weekend when his private jet landed in the country as part of an investigation into 12 potential offenses, including refusal to cooperate with law enforcement, complicity in operating an online platform that enables organized crime, and complicity in a wide range of crimes.

Durov was indicted on six charges Wednesday afternoon and was subsequently released from prison after posting a €5 million bail. He is banned from leaving France and must check in at a police station twice a week.

The charges he now faces includes complicity in the administration of an online platform that allows organized crime groups to conduct illicit transactions; refusal to cooperate with law enforcement when he is required to by law; complicity in organized fraud, distributing hacking software, child pornography, and illicit drugs; and other crimes.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that Telegram had “an almost complete absence of response” to official inquires initiated by France’s judicial system.

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Free speech advocates have voiced their strong opposition to Durov’s arrest online, warning that other top tech executives could be arrested in the future for similar reasons.

Telegram, which has been around for more than 10 years, has more than 900 million users worldwide and has long been used by criminals and terrorist groups to communicate.

Why France decided to open a criminal investigation into the platform several months ago, when it likely could have done so years ago, is unclear.

The Russian military uses Telegram on the battlefield in Ukraine to communicate between soldiers and units, according to The New York Times.

“To date, Telegram has become perhaps the main means of units’ command and control” a pro-war collective of Russian military analysts said on the platform after Durov was arrested, adding that the Russian military now needed to create its own secure channels of communication.