Telegram’s Pavel Durov freed from custody, awaits court ruling

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, a Franco-Russian billionaire, was released from police custody but has been transferred to a Paris courthouse, where he faces multiple charges, including terrorism and child abuse content.

According to the AFP, Durov was moved on Wednesday, Aug. 28 to a Paris courthouse to face a possible indictment.  Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport near Paris over the weekend, accused of failing to moderate criminal content on his encrypted messaging platform. 

On Aug. 26, a French investigative judge extended Durov’s police custody for up to 48 hours, meaning Durov has to be released or charged with some of his accused crimes in the coming hours.

Charges against Durov

The French authorities have accused Durov’s platform of being used for illegal activities, but Telegram denies these charges. Some of the accusations include complicity in selling child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, fraud, abetting organized crime transactions, and refusing to share information with investigators.

French authorities were also interested in Nikolai Durov, Pavel’s brother, and issued arrest warrants for both brothers in March, according to Politico. These warrants came from Telegram’s lack of cooperation in a child sex abuse investigation.

The arrest sparked a sharp decline in Toncoin (TON), the crypto linked to Telegram, which plunged 20% to $5.3, with a market cap falling to $13.6 billion. 

The crypto community expressed strong support for Telegram founder Pavel Durov following his arrest in France over allegations of inadequate moderation of criminal activity on the platform.