French authorities issue arrest warrant for Telegram co-founder Nikolay Durov

The French authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Nikolay Durov, the older brother of Telegram founder Pavel, POLITICO revealed on Wednesday, citing a French administrative document to which it was granted exclusive access.

Arrest warrants for both Durov brothers were issued in March, according to POLITICO, meaning the investigation has been underway for months. Nikolay Durov, a citizen of the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis whose current whereabouts are unknown, is now a wanted man in France.

The case against the brothers relates to Telegram’s refusal to cooperate with a French police investigation into child sex abuse, according to POLITICO, which said that arrest warrants were issued after the messaging platform failed to answer an earlier judicial request to identify a Telegram user.

The administrative document also referred to “Telegram’s almost non-existent cooperation” with both the French and European authorities in other cases too, POLITICO added.

While the document cited the use of the platform “by numerous criminal groups”, there was no implication that the Durov brothers had themselves been directly involved in any illegal activity on Telegram, POLITICO said.