Politico reports on exclusive acquisition of French administrative documents
Arrest warrant issued for March case involving ‘underage pornography’… No direct evidence of involvement,
Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram. ⓒ AFP=News1 ⓒ News1 김예슬 기자,
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, ‘(Seoul=News1) Reporter Cho So-young = Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, was suddenly arrested in France. It has been confirmed that French investigative authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Nikolai Durov, his brother and co-founder of Telegram, reported Politico, a U.S. political specialist media outlet, on the 28th local time.’,
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, ‘Politico reported based on exclusive French administrative documents it obtained.’,
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, ‘According to the documents, the investigation into Telegram has been ongoing for several months prior to what was previously known and has progressed more extensively.’,
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, “Arrest warrants were issued for the two brothers on March 25 for ‘conspiring to possess, distribute, provide, or produce pornography images involving minors.'”,
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, ‘French media previously reported that the investigation started in July.’,
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, “Earlier, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Division captured evidence on Telegram of luring underage girls to transmit ‘self-produced child pornography’ and threatening to publish it on social media (SNS).”,
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, ‘When the suspects were identified, the prosecution requested Telegram for identity confirmation, but Telegram did not comply.’,
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, ‘The document emphasized that although Telegram did not cooperate with the authorities, many criminal organizations use Telegram, hence the arrest warrants were issued for the Durov brothers.’,
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, ‘Politico reported, however, that “there is no direct evidence that the Durov brothers were directly involved in illegal activities.”‘,
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, ‘The case summary also mentioned Deputy Telegram Director Ilya Perepechensky, but the document did not specify whether an arrest warrant was issued for him.’,
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, ‘The prosecution refused to comment on the investigation into the Durov brothers citing confidentiality, but stated, “Among the various crimes committed through Telegram that the Cybercrime Division has initiated investigations into, child pornography crimes are included.”‘,
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, ‘It added, “At this stage, only Pavel Durov is being investigated in connection with this case.”‘,
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, ‘The current whereabouts of Nikolai Durov are uncertain.\n’]