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Telegram’s lawyer slams blocking in Russia as violation of rights and freedoms

Earlier on Friday, court ruled to block access to Telegram in Russia over its failure to provide decryption keys for messages to the Federal Security Service

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Moscow’s Tagansky District Court’s decision to block the Telegram messaging service in Russia is a violation of rights and freedoms, Telegram’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze told TASS.

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"The court has committed an unprecedented violation of rights and freedoms, breaching all the established legal proceedings concerning the notification of the parties. No documents have been provided to us, the positions of the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service] and Roskomnadzor [Russia’s media watchdog] haven’t been clarified," the lawyer said, adding that "Telegram has not received anything."

Dinze pointed out that Telegram’s lawyers had tried to obtain the necessary documents so that the court hearing could be delayed and "we could resolve the issue." "Telegram has decided there is no need to take part in this farce. We will receive documents related to the court hearing shorty and will file an appeal," Dinze said.

Earlier on Friday, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court ruled to block access to Telegram in Russia over its failure to provide decryption keys for messages to the Federal Security Service. The court’s judge said the decision must be implemented immediately and the access ban would remain in force until the FSB’s demands were met.

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