The head of Telegram claims that before the arrest he had "official communication" with the French counter-intelligence

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said during questioning in Paris that he had communicated with representatives of the General Directorate of Internal Security of the French Interior Ministry before his detention, French newspaper Liberation wrote, citing a source close to the investigation.

Durov is said to have "opened an official channel of communication" with French counter-intelligence as part of the fight against terrorism.

It is supposed to be a kind of "hotline" and a special e-mail address, which is suspected to have prevented some terrorist attacks.

There is no official confirmation of this information - neither party has commented on the publication of the newspaper Liberation.

Pavel Durov said during interrogation that he "opened an official channel of communication" with French counterintelligence - Liberation

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said during interrogation in Paris that he had communicated with representatives of the General Directorate of... pic.twitter.com/IuDvL2YTyx

- NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 31, 2024

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed Durov's arrest with the head of the United Arab Emirates - Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, while not giving any details about the conversation.

Otherwise, Durov was arrested last week at the Paris airport. French justice accuses him of not acting against the spread of criminal content on Telegram, a social network that has more than 900 million users.

Durov was arrested as part of an investigation against an unidentified person launched on July 8 by the Cyber ​​Crimes Unit, prosecutor Laura Bekua said earlier in a statement.

The investigation concerns suspected involvement in various criminal offences, including running an online platform that enables illegal transactions, child pornography, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as refusing to provide information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services for criminals, the statement said. /Telegraph/