The founder and CEO of the secure messaging service Telegram Pavel Durov was arrested by the French gendarmerie on the tarmac of Le Bourget airport this Saturday, according to information from TF1-LCI. He was accompanied by his bodyguard and his assistant who follow him constantly, according to information from AFP. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian was the subject of a search warrant issued by the French judicial police.
The Telegram application hosts a lot of illegal content (terrorism, drug trafficking, pedocriminality) and refuses to cooperate with law enforcement to moderate its platform.
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Multiple offenses
The CEO of Telegram avoided traveling to countries where his application is in the sights of justice. His private jet returned this Saturday from Azerbaijan, without the reason for his passage in France being known for the moment. “He made a blunder tonight. We don’t know why… Was this theft just a stopover? In any case, he’s arrested!” a source close to the investigation told TF1-LCI.
Pavel Durov could be charged with complicity in multiple crimes. « [Il] will end up in pre-trial detention, that’s for sure,” estimates an investigator with TF1-LCI.
