Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Is Out Of Jail After French Court Grants Him Bail. Here's What Next For Him

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by French authorities on Saturday evening for allowing contents linked to drug trafficking, child sex abuse, and other organised crimes.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was granted bail by a French court after being arrested on Saturday.

Source : X

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has walked out jail after being granted bail by a French court following his arrest last week and undergoing an investigation into organised crime on the messaging app. 

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that the judge found there were grounds to launch a formal investigation against Durov on all charges for which he was initially arrested. 

His messaging app has been suspected of running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

What Are Pavel Durov's Bail Conditions?

The Telegram chief has been granted bail on condition he pays 5 million euros, reports twice a week to police and does not leave France, reported Reuters. 

A formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial but indicates to judges that there is enough evidence to consider proceeding with the probe. The judge gave its decision on Durov's case after the Franco-Russian entrepreneur was arrested at an airport near Paris on Saturday evening.

Telegram had been used in various criminal cases, said Beccuau, adding that the  "almost total lack of response from Telegram to judicial requisitions" eventually caught the attention of the Paris prosecutor's office cybercrime unit.

"Other French investigation services and public prosecutors' offices as well as various partners within Eurojust, in particular Belgian ones, shared the same observation," about Telegram's lack of compliance, Beccuau said.

The probe against Durov started in February with the investigation carried out by the National Office for Minors, with an introductory indictment in July, Beccuau said.

Telegram, which has barely commented on Durov's arrest, said in a statement on Monday that it abided by European Union laws and its moderation was "within industry standards and constantly improving."

Durov has nothing to hide, said the messaging app and added that he travels frequently to Europe. "It is absurd to claim that a platform, or its owner, is responsible for abuse of that platform," the statement added.