Latest news with #Frenchauthorities
Malay Mail
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Telegram's Durov grilled in Paris over platform's alleged role in online crime
PARIS, July 29 — Telegram founder Pavel Durov faced questioning by investigating magistrates in Paris on Monday about the platform's alleged complicity in criminal activity, sources close to the case said. Durov, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging service. Arriving at the Paris courthouse on Monday morning with four of his lawyers, the Russian-born entrepreneur faced his third round of questioning since being charged with multiple infractions linked to enabling organised crime. Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, has been accused of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, child sex abuse images and other illegal content. Durov has denied the claims, and his lawyers said in a statement that Monday's full-day session allowed Durov 'to provide additional explanations demonstrating the inanity of the facts that are the subject of the investigation'. In his initial questioning in December 2024, Durov denied creating Telegram for illicit use but acknowledged a growing criminal presence on the platform, and pledged to strengthen moderation. French judicial authorities have noted an improvement in cooperation with Telegram since Durov's arrest, sources involved in organised crime cases told AFP. Durov, who was initially banned from leaving France, had his judicial control relaxed from early July, allowing him to reside in the United Arab Emirates for a maximum of two weeks at a time. Durov's lawyers have filed motions to dismiss the charges with the Paris Appeals Court, according to a source close to the case. 'We firmly contest the legality of our client's indictment and that of the numerous investigative acts carried out in defiance of domestic and European law,' his lawyers said in their statement Monday. The lawyers have also filed a legal challenge in France to test the constitutionality of the case, along with a request for a preliminary ruling from the European Union's top court, according to the same source. — AFP
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Telegram's Durov questioned in France over alleged illegal content on app
Telegram founder Pavel Durov faced questioning by investigating magistrates in Paris on Monday about the platform's alleged complicity in criminal activity, sources close to the case said. Durov, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging service. Arriving at the Paris courthouse on Monday morning with four of his lawyers, the Russian-born entrepreneur faced his third round of questioning since being charged with multiple infractions linked to enabling organised crime. Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, has been accused of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, child sex abuse images and other illegal content. Durov has denied the claims, and his lawyers said in a statement that Monday's full-day session allowed Durov "to provide additional explanations demonstrating the inanity of the facts that are the subject of the investigation". In his initial questioning in December 2024, Durov denied creating Telegram for illicit use but acknowledged a growing criminal presence on the platform, and pledged to strengthen moderation. French judicial authorities have noted an improvement in cooperation with Telegram since Durov's arrest, sources involved in organised crime cases told AFP. Durov, who was initially banned from leaving France, had his judicial control relaxed from early July, allowing him to reside in the United Arab Emirates for a maximum of two weeks at a time. Durov's lawyers have filed motions to dismiss the charges with the Paris Appeals Court, according to a source close to the case. "We firmly contest the legality of our client's indictment and that of the numerous investigative acts carried out in defiance of domestic and European law," his lawyers said in their statement Monday. The lawyers have also filed a legal challenge in France to test the constitutionality of the case, along with a request for a preliminary ruling from the European Union's top court, according to the same source. bur-mk/ekf/ah/js/gv/sbk
France 24
a day ago
- Politics
- France 24
Telegram's Durov questioned in France over alleged illegal content on app
Durov, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on his popular messaging service. Arriving at the Paris courthouse on Monday morning, the Russian-born entrepreneur faced his third round of questioning since being charged with multiple infractions linked to enabling organised crime. Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, has been accused of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, child sex abuse images and other illegal content. Durov has denied the claims, and neither he nor his lawyers responded to a request for comment. In his initial questioning in December 2024, Durov denied creating Telegram for illicit use but acknowledged a growing criminal presence on the platform, and pledged to strengthen moderation. French judicial authorities have noted an improvement in cooperation with Telegram since Durov's arrest, sources involved in organised crime cases told AFP. Durov, who was initially banned from leaving France, had his judicial control relaxed from early July, allowing him to reside in the United Arab Emirates for a maximum of two weeks at a time. Durov's lawyers have filed motions to dismiss the charges with the Paris Appeals Court, according to a source close to the case. The lawyers have also filed a legal challenge in France to test the constitutionality of the case, along with a request for a preliminary ruling from the European Union's top court, according to the same source.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Why don't we just arrest the driver of every migrant boat? asks ROBERT HARDMAN
So the Home Secretary is going to usher in 'new laws' to criminalise people traffickers who cram too many 'clients' on to a small boat. As Yvette Cooper told The Mail on Sunday yesterday, she is worried about women and children being 'crushed at sea', warning: 'If you storm a boat, trampling over the bodies of tiny children, you are complicit in putting other people in danger.' I'd love to know which beaches she has been on lately. The ones I have just visited in Northern France – and the makeshift camps just beyond the dunes – have precious few women and almost no children at all. The crowds who come charging over the sands each dawn when the latest 'taxi boat' looms into view are almost entirely adult young men. And in response to her latest proposal, I would simply ask the Home Secretary why she is bothering with any 'new laws' when she already has perfectly good laws at her disposal. Both the French and British authorities have the power to apprehend the driver of each and every migrant boat that takes to the Channel. France has particularly draconian laws. Its 'Transport Code' declares that anyone navigating a boat without the correct licence faces a fine of 3,750 euros, rising to 4,500 euros and six months in prison if the boat is carrying passengers. The most basic licence governs engines above six horsepower and these inflatable tubs have at least 50hp on the back. Meanwhile, Britain's Merchant Shipping Regulations dictate a 'substantial fine' and other penalties for unqualified skippers of a passenger vessel – which is anything with more than 12 people on board. Every smuggling boat I have seen has at least 50 people. 'It should be very simple. Anyone seen with their hand on the tiller should go straight to prison,' says the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp. Reform Party leader Nigel Farage agrees. 'It is very easy to spot who is driving a boat – I have taken plenty of photographs of them myself,' he says. 'If you or I or anyone goes to sea in a private fishing boat, there is a whole raft of regulations we have to follow. The French rules are a lot stricter than ours. So what's stopping them?' A week on from asking the French authorities that question, I have received no reply. Seven days ago, I asked both our Department for Transport and the Home Office if anyone had been prosecuted in the past year for breaching the rules – and if not, why not? While the Home Office has yet to say anything, after several chase-up calls and emails, the DfT managed to come up with the following: 'International passenger vessels (i.e. a ship that carries more than 12 passengers, which visits foreign ports) need to comply with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). Border Force carries out enforcement when vessels reach UK shores.' For now, that enforcement seems to be a one-way ticket to places like The Bell Hotel, Epping. Of course, enforcement of these rules would not solve the problem overnight. However, in next to no time, you would find that no one is going to pull the starter cord on a small boat engine, let alone put it in gear and head to sea. Even if the traffickers get a migrant to drive the boat (as often happens), who will risk the fine – and a prison sentence leading to instant deportation? But, as long as the French simply wave off these illegal skippers and the British help them ashore, nothing will change.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Migrant dies trying to cross Channel
A man has died after suffering a cardiac arrest on a boat trying to reach the UK, French authorities have confirmed. The boat turned back towards Équihen beach in northern France on Saturday morning. When it arrived at the beach, a man was found on board in cardiac arrest, the Pas-de-Calais department's sub-prefecture told the PA news agency. Despite emergency services intervening at the scene, he died soon after. An investigation was under way to determine the circumstances of the man's death, the French authorities confirmed. According to Home Office provisional statistics, almost 24,000 people have arrived on small boats in the UK in 2025. Saturday's incident was the 11th migrant death in the Channel so far this year, after an unconscious woman was pulled from the water in May. She later died. The previous month, another migrant died as 51 survivors disembarked a Border Force vessel at Dover harbour on April 18. Figures from the UN's International Organisation for Migration estimate that some 82 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year, making it the deadliest on record. It comes after it was revealed migrants could be housed in empty homes and properties bought by councils. The Government is proposing pilot schemes in which it could pay councils to buy or renovate property, which they would lease back to the Home Office, to house asylum seekers. Meanwhile, police braced for fresh protests against asylum hotels this weekend, following 16 arrests for violence at the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex. The violence followed anger over the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by a 38-year-old migrant from Ethiopia. Some 32,000 asylum seekers are being housed in around 210 hotels, according to the latest Home Office data from March. This compares with just under 30,000 last June, days before Labour won the election, but down from the peak of 56,000 at 400 hotels in September 2023 at a cost of £9m a day.
