Several French government websites have been knocked offline by a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack believed to be carried out by a Russian hacker group. The affected sites include the Paris Administrative Court, the French Department of Health and the Court of Cassation. At the time of writing, Cointelegraph was unable to access these sites and received warnings that the links were not secure.

The attacks are believed to be in response to the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France. French President Emmanuel Macron said Durov’s arrest was not political and reiterated France’s commitment to freedom of expression.

Durov’s arrest has sparked widespread backlash among the crypto community and free speech advocates. Industry leaders such as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Elon Musk have called for Durov’s release. Buterin criticized Telegram’s lack of seriousness about encryption, but said the charges were based on “lack of moderation” and “failure to share data.”

French prosecutors said Durov could be questioned until August 28. So far, no official charges have been brought against Durov.

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