The French authorities issued arrest warrants for Durov and his brother Nikolai in March, according to a classified document obtained by POLITICO.
The warrants were issued in connection with Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with a French police investigation into child sex abuse.
Durov’s arrest has sparked a diplomatic firestorm between France and Russia, with the Kremlin demanding consular access to the detained tech tycoon.
France has denied any involvement in the arrest, insisting that it was a purely judicial matter. The United Arab Emirates, where Durov frequently resides, has also requested consular access.
French authorities issued arrest warrants for Pavel and Nikolai Durov on March 25 after Telegram repeatedly refused to cooperate with a judicial request to identify a user suspected of sharing child pornography on the platform.
The warrants were issued following an undercover investigation into Telegram’s activities by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
During the investigation, a suspect discussed luring underage girls into sending “self-produced child pornography” and threatening to release it on social media. The suspect also confessed to raping a young child.
Telegram’s failure to respond to the French authorities’ request to identify the suspect was cited as a key factor in the decision to issue the arrest warrants.
The document also emphasized the platform’s use by numerous criminal groups as justification for the arrest warrants against the Durov brothers.
However, there is no evidence suggesting that either of the brothers was directly involved in any of the illegal activities identified by the investigation.
Telegram’s Vice President, Ilya Perekopsky, was also mentioned in the summary of the case, although the document does not indicate whether a warrant has been issued for him.
Telegram vehemently denied any wrongdoing following the CEO’s arrest, stating that it complies with all EU laws and that its founder has nothing to hide. The company said that neither the platform nor its founder could be held responsible for the abuse of the online service.
The Russian-born tech tycoon, who holds Russian, French, Emirati, and Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship, founded Telegram in 2013. The platform has since grown to have nearly one billion global users and has become a critical messaging tool for political dissidents, battlefield generals, and gangsters.
Telegram’s principled stance of refusing to remove any posts that violate local restrictions on speech or disclose user data to governments has further fueled the controversy surrounding its role in facilitating illegal activities.
