French authorities on Aug. 28 issued preliminary charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, accusing him of permitting alleged criminal activity on the messaging app.
The charging decision comes four days after French authorities detained Durov at the Paris–Le Bourget Airport, as he arrived on his private jet from Azerbaijan.
Earlier on Aug. 28, Durov was released from police detention and ordered to appear in court for further consideration of his case.
A French court also ordered Durov to pay 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in bail and to report to a police station twice per week, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Allegations against the Russia-born Durov, who is a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking and that Telegram has refused to cooperate with criminal investigators.
One preliminary charge accuses Durov of “complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group,” a crime that can carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 500 million euros ($556 million).
For now, Durov is the only person charged in the case, but French prosecutors did not preclude the possibility that others may be charged.
Under the French legal system, preliminary charges mean that judges believe that there’s enough evidence of a crime to proceed with a probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or shelved. The country’s judicial system operates differently from those in many other nations, and judges play a more active role in investigating and prosecuting crimes.
Telegram is an app that allows for one-on-one conversations, group chats, and “channels” that can involve hundreds of people. Unlike Meta’s WhatsApp, which has a group chat limit of 1,024, Telegram’s group chats allow up to 200,000 people.
In an Aug. 25 statement following Durov’s arrest, Telegram insisted that it abides by the European Union’s laws governing online services, including the Digital Services Act.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram said in its statement.
On Aug. 26, Telegram posted a statement saying Durov “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
Along with his French and Russian citizenship, Durov also retains citizenship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The UAE Foreign Ministry stated on Aug. 27 that it was “closely following the case” and had asked France to provide Durov “with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner.”
Russian Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he hoped that Durov “has all the necessary opportunities for his legal defense” and said the Moscow government stands ready to support the tech entrepreneur.
Durov said in an April interview that he left Russia and founded Telegram after resisting Moscow’s demands to turn over information on Ukrainian users of another online platform he helped co-found, called Vkontakte.
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,“ he said. ”It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”
The arrest has sparked concern from some tech companies.
“If sustained, I don’t see how tech founders could possibly travel to France, much less hire in France,” he wrote. “This is economic suicide and is rapidly and permanently changing the perception of founders and investors.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Telegram for comment on the charges.
