France’s President denies that the Telegram founder’s arrest was a “political decision.”
After Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov was arrested by French authorities over the weekend, more details have emerged that shed light on the reason for his apprehension.
On July 8, a judicial investigation was opened against “a person unnamed” on charges related to complicity with various offenses committed using Durov’s messaging app, including money laundering and dissemination of child poronography.
Per a press release from the court of Paris shared by Disclose.TV, the unidentified individual complicit with the possession and distribution of “pornographic images of minors.”
It also accused the person of complicity in the sale of narcotics, making available hacking tools, orgaized fraud, money laundering, and for providing cryptology tools without prior declaration.
“It is within this procedural framework in which Pavel Durov was questioned by the investigators,” stated a press release from the court on Monday, following Durov’s Saturday arrest.
Durov’s arrest has incited fierce backlash from the crypto community who consider his apprehension an attack on freedom of speech. Durov has suggested before that he owns a substantial portion of his net worth in Bitcoin (BTC).
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to critics on Monday saying that Durov’s arrest was “in no way a political decision,” and “took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation.”
“France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship,” he said over Twitter. “It will remain so.”