On the evening of August 28 in Paris, Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was released from custody, but the judge imposed strict restrictions on him, prohibiting him from leaving France.
Durov’s bail was also set at 5 million euros and he must report to the police station twice a week to register. After his release and leaving the court, Durov made no comments to the media.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, Durov is charged with six counts, including “participation in illegal financial transactions related to organised crime via his platform”. The maximum penalty for this offence is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros, Russian media write.
Pavel Durov was released
Telegram founder left Paris court in private car@durov pic.twitter.com/4u58YWQWfT
-Amina (@zdravstvuy04) August 29, 2024
The charges also include “refusal to provide authorized authorities with information or documents necessary for the commission and use of interceptions permitted by law,” “complicity in the distribution of pornography involving minors,” “drug trafficking,” “transfer, provision for use without authorization, legal basis of a program or data intended or adapted to undermine or access the operation of an automated data processing system,” and “organized group fraud.”
Durov is also charged with “facilitating evasion of liability”, “illegal supply of encryption tools” and “undeclared import of cryptographic equipment”.
Pavel Durov’s lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminsky, categorically rejected all the accusations, calling them ridiculous. He stressed that his client is not responsible for the actions of other Telegram users.
Earlier, Cursor reported that Macron made an offer to Durov, but he turned it down.
