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“Liberation”: Telegram founder Durov allegedly had contacts with French counterintelligence


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from Agenzia Nova.

During his interrogation in Paris, the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, he allegedly claimed to be in contact with officials from the French Directorate General for Internal Security (DGSI), the Paris-based counter-espionage agency, the French daily newspaper “Liberation” reported, citing sources close to the investigation.

Durov allegedly explained that he had “opened an official communication channel” with the DGSI, as part of operations to counter terrorist activities. Specifically, he had a telephone line and an email address at his disposal from the agency. According to Liberation sources, these communication channels prevented some terrorist attacks. Durov also claimed to have met with officials of the DGSI in Dubai, where he resides.

Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport in Paris on August 24th. According to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, he was arrested for lack of moderation on his instant messaging app, as well as for failing to collaborate in the fight against drug trafficking and the dissemination of child pornography content. The arrest took place “as part of a judicial investigation opened on July 8”, explained the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the first press release issued by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office on August 26, Durov faces 12 charges, six of which have actually been brought against him at the moment. The first concerns the crime of aiding and abetting in relation to the “operation of an online platform to enable an illegal transaction by an organised gang”. The second refers to the “refusal to communicate or provide, at the request of the authorised authorities, the information and documents necessary to carry out and use the wiretaps authorised by law”. The third and fourth charges concern complicity in relation to the “possession of an image of a minor of a child pornography nature” and the “distribution, offering or organised making available of a pornographic image of a minor”. The fifth refers to drug trafficking, while the sixth concerns the transfer “without legitimate reason of equipment, tools, programs or data designed or adapted to compromise or access the functioning of an automatic data processing system”.

The seventh crime of which the founder of Telegram is accused concerns his alleged complicity in an “organized fraud”, while the eighth would see him guilty of “criminal association aimed at committing a crime or an offense punishable by five years in prison ”. The ninth charge concerns the “laundering” of proceeds deriving from crimes committed “by an organized gang”, while the tenth is related to the “provision of cryptology services to guarantee confidentiality without a declaration of conformity”. The last two charges brought by the French judicial authorities against Durov concern the “supply” and “importation” of a “cryptographic instrument that does not exclusively provide authentication or integrity checking functions without prior declaration”.

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