Back in March, French authorities issued arrest warrants for Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai, who is the co-founder of the platform. This was reported by Politico with reference to a document that its journalists were able to familiarize themselves with.
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The secret investigation into Telegram’s activities turned out to be broader and began several months earlier than previously expected. It concerns the refusal of the platform administration to cooperate with the authorities in a case related to child abuse, the document says. Arrest warrants were issued back on March 25 on several charges, including “complicity in the possession, distribution, offering or provision of pornographic images of minors as part of an organized group.” This happened after the Telegram administration “did not respond” to an earlier court request to identify the platform user directly involved in the case.
The issuance of the warrants was also preceded by an investigation into Telegram, which was led by the cybercrime department of the Paris prosecutor’s office. The suspect personally produced materials depicting abuse of minors, and also personally participated in these actions. But the administration of the messenger did not respond to the French authorities’ request to identify the suspect. The platform is used by “numerous criminal groups,” the document says, and this is also the rationale for issuing arrest warrants for the Durov brothers. The case summary mentions Telegram Vice President Ilya Perekopsky, but does not say whether a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the warrants against the Durov brothers because the investigation is secret. The department said that “the basis for the initiation of an investigation by the cybercrime department of the Paris prosecutor’s office was various offenses, including those related to child pornography. At this stage, the only person being questioned in this case is Pavel Durov.” Nikolai Durov’s current whereabouts are unknown. In an interview with Politico, the department also noted that “any person of foreign citizenship who is in police custody has the right to contact the consular authorities of their country,” but did not specify whether Pavel made such a request. The Telegram head’s detention period has been extended to a maximum of 96 hours, after which he could be charged or released.