Criminal Charges Against Telegram’s Pavel Durov “Totally Absurd”, Says Lawyer

The French lawyer for Telegram boss Pavel Durov said it was “totally absurd to suggest that the head of a social network” such as his client could be involved in criminal acts, Franceinfo and BFM TV reported on Thursday.

“Telegram fully abides with European rules on digital. It is a moderator whose rules are similar to those of other social networks,” David-Olivier Kaminski told several reporters.

A French judge put Durov under formal investigation on Wednesday in a probe into organized crime on the messaging app, but granted the entrepreneur bail on condition he pays 5 million euros ($5.6 million), reports twice a week to police and does not leave French territory.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement the judge found there were grounds to formally investigate Durov on all the charges for which he was arrested four days ago.

They include suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

Durov’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters for comment. But with Durov now getting bail although he cannot leave the country, the stage is next for the next step in the state’s legal case against him.

He will be transferred to another court for questioning and according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, he faces “initial questioning and possible indictment”. Clearly, the judges believe there is enough against him to warrant prosecution.

Durov faces a slew of 12 charges including complicity in the use of the Telegram channel for facilitating online illegal transactions, and involvement in child pornography. The  French authorities also say he is involved in drug offenses, providing tools for cyberattacks, organised gang scams, criminal association and money laundering.

With Reuters inputs