Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging application telegram, provided an update concerning his current case in France, and said that the criminal investigation against him was “in difficulty” to find evidence of reprehensible acts.
Durov said his arrest by the French authorities in August 2024 was “unprecedented” and added that holding a technological framework responsible for the actions of independent users was “legally and logically absurd”, in a telegram position on Sunday. Durov added:
“A year later,” the criminal investigation “against me still finds it difficult to find anything that I or Telegram do harm. Our moderation practices align with industry standards, and Telegram has always responded to all legal requests from France. ”
“A year after this strange arrest, I still have to return to France every 14 days, without any appeal date,” he continued, while warning that the French government has caused irreparable damage to the image of France as a free country.
The arrest of Durov aroused a general condemnation of the cryptographic community, the defense groups of human rights and activists of freedom of expression, which accused the French government of having arrested the founder of the telegram to put it pressure on the censorship of the platform.
In relation: A year since Durov’s arrest: what happened and what’s waiting for us?
The arrest of Pavel Durov creates a massive reaction against the French government
Durov was charged and initially prevented from leaving France as part of an investigation into moderation policies of the content of the Telegram platform, those responsible for the application of French laws accusing the platform of hosting harmful content.
French President Emmanuel Macron denied that the arrest was politically motivated, triggering a torrent of accusations of censorship and criticism of the cryptographic community.
“In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are confirmed in a legal framework, both on social networks and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights,” wrote Macron in a post of August 26.
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of the Helius nodes supplier, replied to Macron by asking: “Why are you not personally in prison so as not to control 100% of all crimes in France?”
Durov has repeatedly declared that Telegram complies with all legal requests for applying the law and maintains that the company will leave a court before succumbing to censorship pressures.
The TELEGRAM platform will not compromise user confidentiality by putting the encryption keys back or by building deadlines within the messaging application, Durov said.
Review: Has Pavel Durov of Telegram committed a crime? Crypto lawyers weigh