Writer: Gabriel Stargardt
PARIS (Reuters) – The investigation into Telegram boss Pavel Durov was launched by a small cybercrime unit inside the Paris prosecutor’s workplace, headed by 38-year-old Johanna Bruce Brousse) chief.
The arrest of Durov, 39, on Saturday marks a serious shift in the best way some international authorities take care of tech giants unwilling to police unlawful content material on their platforms.
Attorneys say the arrests mark the mettle of J3’s cybercrime unit, however the true check of its ambitions might be whether or not Bruce can safe a conviction based mostly on largely untested authorized arguments.
In an unprecedented transfer in opposition to a serious tech govt, prosecutors held Durov accountable for alleged unlawful conduct on his platform and formally investigated him on organized crime fees. He allegedly conspired to function a web based platform that allowed the publication of kid sexual abuse photos, drug trafficking and fraud.
Durov’s attorneys stated on Thursday it was “ridiculous” to carry him liable and that the app complied with European legislation, echoing earlier statements by Telegram itself.
Being formally investigated in France doesn’t suggest guilt or essentially result in a trial, however it signifies that the decide believes there’s sufficient proof to proceed with the investigation. The investigation might final a number of years earlier than being despatched to trial or dropped. Durov has been launched on bail however is prohibited from leaving France.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated on Wednesday that Bruce’s division started investigating Durov earlier this yr after seeing his apps being utilized in quite a few alleged crimes and ” Telegram is pissed off by its nearly full lack of response to judicial requests.
Bruce declined to remark.
In a January interview with Libération, Bruce stated her workplace was overseeing a rising variety of investigations involving Telegram and rival messaging app Discord, including that combating crimes on the apps was “my battle.” one”.
Discord CEO Jason Citron didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Brousse’s J3 cybercrime unit is France’s most vital cybercrime unit, with license to prosecute nationwide. However a 2022 parliamentary report discovered that additionally it is small, with simply 5 prosecutors, far fewer than Switzerland’s 55-60 cybercrime prosecutors. Bruce instructed Le Figaro final yr that resulting from restricted assets they “prioritize probably the most severe crimes”.
Bruce stated in a 2022 podcast that she wished to seem powerful “so cybercriminals imagine that in the event that they assault France they are going to be tried and punished very harshly”.
“We would like folks to be prosecuted by arrest warrant in their very own nation… or in France,” she stated.
She added that her workplace is used to dealing with “extraordinarily delicate instances.” “Generally, authorized and geopolitical points intersect.”
Patrick Perrot, who coordinates the French Gendarmerie’s AI-assisted investigations and advises the Inside Ministry’s cyber command, stated J3 was revolutionary and set a world precedent in pursuing prosecution instances.
“I believe it exhibits which you could’t do no matter you need via these platforms,” he instructed Reuters. “This can be a actual problem going ahead as a result of these platforms are usually not going to cease multiplying, so the problem of regulation is vital.”
Are the authorized grounds harsh?
Brousse has led J3 since 2020, permitting her to supervise some of the vital and controversial cybercrime instances ever seen in France.
In late 2020, J3 was accountable for an investigation into Sky ECC, which together with Encrochat was one of many essential encrypted messaging providers utilized by gangs to purchase medicine and weapons or homicide rivals. A number of years in the past, French, Dutch and Belgian police hacked their servers in northern France, giving French prosecutors jurisdiction over lots of the ensuing investigations.
In line with Europol, greater than 6,500 folks have been arrested since Encrochat was shut down in 2020, and the legality of the interceptions has been challenged in appeals courts throughout Europe.
Canadian Encrochat proprietor Paul Krusky was extradited from the Dominican Republic to France in February, the place he’s awaiting trial. Attorneys for Sky ECC’s Jean-François Eap are contesting his French arrest warrant.
Eap’s lawyer Stephane Bonifassi stated his consumer was harmless, including that “Sky ECC just isn’t thought-about a software of criminals and isn’t being commercialized”.
Antoine Vey, Krusky’s lawyer, stated his consumer was harmless.
“Paul Krusky arrange this service, like different globally profitable providers, solely to guard customers’ privateness and freedom of transactions and on no account to help prison exercise,” Wei stated in an announcement.
Two different French attorneys who labored on the Sky ECC and Encrochat instances instructed Reuters that these early investigations offered prosecutors with their ambitions and blueprint for concentrating on Durov.
Robin Binsard, who tried the Encrochat case earlier than France’s highest court docket, stated prosecutors wanted to show Durov knew and authorised of the app’s prison conduct, calling their argument “completely questionable.”
He added that the truth that Telegram didn’t adjust to legislation enforcement requests “doesn’t robotically make an individual an confederate to a prison mission.”
Binsard stated it was clear that “France is searching for encrypted messaging suppliers” and that different operators of such apps, reminiscent of Sign, “ought to be involved about whether or not they adjust to French laws. As a result of if they do not, authorized motion might be taken.” .
Sign didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A supply on the Paris prosecutor’s workplace stated the Sky ECC investigation was not linked to the Telegram investigation.
