The Paris prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the investigating decide ended Durov’s police detention and would carry him to court docket.
Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov has been despatched to fulfill a French investigative decide who will determine whether or not to formally examine him following his arrest as a part of a probe into organized crime on social media and messaging apps .
Durov was detained on Saturday after arriving in Paris on a non-public jet, placing a highlight on the prison legal responsibility of app suppliers and stoking debate over the place free speech comes from and enforcement of legal guidelines begins. .
“The investigating decide has terminated Pavel Durov’s police detention and can permit him to seem in court docket for the primary time for potential prosecution,” the Paris prosecutor’s workplace mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.
Being formally investigated in France doesn’t suggest guilt or essentially result in a trial, however relatively signifies that the decide believes there may be sufficient proof within the case to proceed with the investigation. The investigation might final a number of years earlier than going to trial or being placed on maintain.
The decide is predicted to make his resolution at 8pm (18:00 GMT), 96 hours after Durov was detained, the utmost interval he might be detained earlier than a call is made.
If Durov, a French citizen, is formally investigated, a decide can even determine whether or not to carry him in pretrial detention. One of many components they’ll contemplate is whether or not he can attempt to escape.
The general survey at this stage is concentrating on unspecified ethnic teams. Prosecutors mentioned they targeted on alleged prison conspiracy, together with working an internet platform that allowed unlawful transactions, possessing photos of kid sexual abuse, drug trafficking, fraud, refusing to go messages to authorities and offering encrypted companies to criminals.
The prosecutor’s workplace didn’t say what crimes Durov himself may be implicated in.
Durov’s French lawyer didn’t reply to repeated requests for remark from Reuters.
Telegram mentioned in an announcement on Monday that it complies with EU regulation and that its evaluations are “in step with business requirements and frequently enhancing.”
“Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and he travels often to Europe,” it mentioned. “It’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its house owners are liable for abuse of that platform.”
Along with Russia and France, Durov can also be a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The UAE overseas ministry mentioned on Tuesday it was “carefully following the case” and requested France to “urgently present all vital consular companies to Durov”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned he hoped Durov would have “all vital alternatives for authorized protection,” including that Moscow was “prepared to supply all vital companies to the Telegram CEO, who’s a Russian citizen.” help and help.”
“However the scenario is difficult by the truth that he’s additionally a French citizen,” Peskov mentioned.
Confronted with accusations from Russia and X proprietor Elon Musk that France is stifling free speech over Durov’s arrest, French President Emmanuel Macron took the weird step on Monday of posting what he known as “disinformation” on X .
Macron mentioned on Monday that Durov’s arrest was not a political transfer however a part of an impartial investigation. Macron wrote that his nation was “firmly dedicated” to freedom of expression however that “freedom, each on social media and in actual life, is upheld inside a authorized framework that protects residents and respects their elementary rights” ”
