France. Telegram founder Pavel Durov detained at Paris airport. Could face charges

Pavel Durov is Russian, but has a French passport. He flew directly to Paris Le Bourgety Airport from Azerbaijan. He was wanted by the French justice system for failing to cooperate with law enforcement in connection with an investigation into the operation of a messenger he created, which was allegedly used by criminals. Telegram allows you to publish entries on public channels, but it also allows you to send encrypted messages, among other things.

The billionaire's arrest was reported by TF1 Info, citing its sources, as well as the independent Belarusian service Nexta. “Telegram is a hotbed of criminal content,” TF1 Info wrote. According to French investigators, quoted by the portal, Telegram “has become the best platform for organized crime over the years.”

On Sunday, Durov, 39, could face charges of facilitating a range of crimes, including terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering and disseminating pedophile content by failing to cooperate with investigations. The Telegram founder is expected to be temporarily detained after being charged.

Media reported that the French investigation focused on the lack of moderators on Telegram, a situation that was seen as allowing criminal activity to continue unabated.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it was taking steps to “clarify” the situation.

French media are surprised that Durov, who knew about the possibility of being arrested, appeared in Francewhich he had so far avoided, traveling among others to the United Arab Emirates, the countries of the former USSR and South American countries.

According to TF1 Info, Durov’s arrest is intended, among other things, to send a signal to criminals operating on Telegram, as well as to put pressure on European countries to combat encrypted messages in the context of terrorist threats.