EGN NEWS DESK
PARIS — The founder and CEO of the favored encrypted messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport, French media reported Sunday.
Pavel Durov was detained on the Paris Le Bourget airport on Saturday night after touchdown in France from Azerbaijan, in line with broadcasters LCI and TF1.
Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, hooked up to the French customs division, notified Durov that he was being positioned in police custody, the broadcasters stated.
French prosecutors declined to touch upon Durov’s arrest when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday, according to laws throughout an ongoing investigation.
French media reported that Durov, 39, was the topic of an arrest warrant issued by France primarily based on allegations that his encrypted platform has been used for cash laundering, drug trafficking and permitting the sharing of content material linked to sexual exploitation of minors.
Western governments have usually criticized Telegram for lack of content material moderating on the messaging service.
Russian authorities officers expressed outrage at Durov’s arrest, with some highlighting what they stated was the West’s double requirements on freedom of speech.
“In 2018, a gaggle of 26 NGOs, together with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and others, condemned the Russian court docket’s choice to dam Telegram,” stated Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Do you suppose this time they’ll enchantment to Paris and demand Durov’s launch?” Zakharova stated in a put up on her private Telegram account.
