“Don’t worry, they’ve got it under their belt. Forget your criminal law reflexes and go look at the February 2023 Orientation and Programming Law of the Ministry of the Interior (LOPMI).” So let’s scrupulously follow this advice from a magistrate we met in the corridors of the court. On Wednesday evening, Telegram boss Pavel Durov was indicted and placed under strict judicial supervision by the French courts, which accuses him of not taking action against the dissemination of criminal content on the messaging service he founded and controls.
And everyone is wondering: how can one be an accomplice to acts for which one is not responsible? In fact, in pure criminal law, there is no such thing as “passive complicity”. And his lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski – who, with his colleague Julia Bettach, defends the billionaire of Russian origin who became a naturalized French citizen – says it loud and clear: “It is totally absurd to think that the head of a social network” such as Pavel Durov “could be involved in criminal acts” that would be committed through his messaging service.
