The arrested individual faces up to 20 years in prison.
Officers from the Air Transport Gendarmerie arrested the founder of the Telegram messenger, Pavel Durov, at Le Bourget Airport in Paris around 8:00 PM local time on August 24. This was reported by WNTab on Sunday, August 25.
It is known that Durov’s private jet landed at the French capital’s airport for refueling. Since the founder of the messenger was on a wanted list, law enforcement arrested him based on a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation.
It is reported that Pavel Durov faces charges for crimes such as aiding terrorism, money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, purchasing stolen goods, distributing child pornography, among others. French investigators believe that all of this was made possible due to the lack of moderation on Telegram and certain tools provided by the messenger (such as disposable numbers, cryptocurrency, etc.).
Durov is expected to be questioned about these charges in the coming day or two. It should be noted that the founder of the popular messenger, who also holds French citizenship, faces up to 20 years in prison.
Interestingly, according to some media reports, Durov was placed on the wanted list just minutes before his private jet landed at the French airport.
The event has already sparked reactions from media personalities. Notably, Elon Musk supported the Telegram founder, writing on X that by 2030, people in Europe might be executed for liking posts on social networks. The billionaire also launched the hashtag #FREEPAVEL on his social network.
Renowned journalist Tucker Carlson also reminded that Pavel Durov had been persecuted in Russia for refusing to give law enforcement access to Telegram users’ data. Ultimately, he notes, the platform’s founder was arrested in a country that claims to fight for freedom of speech and expression.
Earlier, WNTab reported that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released from prison.
