Telegram CEO released by police, transferred to court for possible indictment

Enlarge / Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is heading to court for a possible indictment after being released from police custody, authorities in France said on Wednesday. “An investigating judge has ended Pavel Durov’s police custody and will have him brought to court for a first appearance and a possible indictment,” according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office that was quoted in an Associated Press article.

Durov was arrested in Paris on Saturday and questioned by police for several days. The French investigative judge will “decide whether to place him under formal investigation following his arrest as part of a probe into organized crime on the messaging app,” Reuters wrote today.

“Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt or necessarily lead to trial, but indicates that judges consider there is enough to the case to proceed with the probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or shelved,” Reuters wrote. The judge’s decision on a formal investigation is expected today, the article said.