The founder and CEO of messaging service Telegram was arrested at Paris airport on an arrest warrant. He is accused of using his platform for money laundering, drug trafficking and other crimes, French media reported on Sunday.
Pavel Durov, a citizen with dual French and Russian nationality, was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan, broadcasters LCI and TF1 reported.
Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, which is affiliated with the French customs authority, informed 39-year-old Durov that he would be taken into police custody, the broadcasters reported.
Durov’s representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
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When asked by The Associated Press on Sunday, French prosecutors declined to comment on Durov’s arrest, in line with regulations while the investigation is ongoing.
French media reported that the arrest warrant against Durov was issued by France at the request of a special unit of the French Interior Ministry responsible for investigating crimes against minors, including sexual exploitation on the internet, such as the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse content and the initiation of sexual acts.
Telegram was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Russian government’s crackdown on mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow in late 2011 and 2012.
The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to crack down on digital space, issuing regulations that forced internet providers to block websites and mobile phone operators to store call recordings and messages that could be passed on to intelligence agencies.
In an increasingly repressive environment, Telegram’s privacy-friendly rhetoric offered Russians a convenient way to communicate and exchange messages. In 2018, Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor attempted to block Telegram for refusing to hand over encryption keys, but ultimately failed to fully restrict access to the app.
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Telegram continued to be widely used, including by government institutions, and the ban was lifted two years later. In March 2024, Roskomnadzor said that Telegram was cooperating with the Russian government to some extent and had removed more than 256,000 posts with banned content at Roskomnadzor’s request.
Telegram also remains a popular news source in Ukraine, where it is used by media and authorities to exchange information about the war and to transmit warnings about rocket and air strikes.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
