MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) – Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messenger app, said on Wednesday he had received a summons in Russia at an old address naming him as a “suspect” in a criminal case.
Russia stepped up its bid to subjugate Telegram in February, announcing in a state-run newspaper it was investigating billionaire founder Durov as part of a criminal case involving accusations of terrorism.
Durov, writing on Telegram, posted a copy of the summons sent through the Russian postal service.
“The apartment in Russia where I lived 20 years ago received a summons for ‘Suspect P.V. Durov,'” he wrote.
“They must be suspecting me of defending Articles 29 and 23 of the Russian Constitution — which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to private correspondence. Proud to be guilty!”
Russian authorities are trying to block Telegram, which has more than 1 billion active users and is used widely in both Russia and Ukraine – and steer tens of millions of Russians towards a state-backed alternative known as MAX.
The app has repeatedly denied Russian allegations that it is a haven for criminal activity and compromised by both Western and Ukrainian intelligence.
An official state newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published an article in February which it said was “based on materials from Russia’s Federal Security Service” that accused the app of being “a tool for hybrid threats”.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Chris Reese, Ron Popeski and Deepa Babington)
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