Telegram founder Pavel Durov has confirmed in his English-language channel that Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against him on charges of “aiding terrorism.” He wrote that “Russia has opened a criminal case against me for ‘aiding terrorism’,” adding that officials are inventing new pretexts every day to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram and “suppress the right to privacy and freedom of speech,” calling it a sad spectacle of “a state that is afraid of its own people.” 

Earlier, state newspapers Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Komsomolskaya Pravda, citing FSB and Interior Ministry data, reported that Durov’s actions are being investigated under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers assistance to terrorist activity, claiming Telegram has been linked to some 153,000 crimes since 2022, including about 33,000 of a sabotage‑terrorist or extremist nature and the Crocus City Hall attack.

source: tginfo

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