MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. The Telegram messenger may be designated as a terrorist organization, but the opened criminal case against its co-founder Pavel Durov does not automatically serve as grounds for such a decision, lawyer Maria Yundina told TASS.

"The designation as a terrorist organization is a separate non-criminal procedure. The formal subject of such a case to recognize an organization as terrorist would be the nature of its activities rather than the guilt of its head. Therefore, the charges against Durov or even a future conviction in absentia do not automatically give such a status. However, the prosecutor’s office can use them as evidence in a separate proceeding," she said.

According to Yundina, if formal charges are brought under the article related to terrorism, the chances that the operating legal entity will be recognized as a terrorist organization are objectively high.

The lawyer recalled that recent court practice demonstrates that the Russian Prosecutor’s Office’s petitions to designate organizations as terrorist are granted almost in all cases, with sentences against individuals on terrorism charges serving as the key evidence in such proceedings.