Belgian federal prosecutors have been investigating the messaging app Telegram since 2020.
Until now, the Belgian Justice’s interest in Telegram was not public knowledge, according to a report by De Standaard on Saturday.
Belgian investigators will now collaborate with their French counterparts following the arrest of Telegram’s founder at an airport in Paris in August this year.
This collaboration follows the creation of a joint investigation team (JIT) with French judicial authorities.
The two countries will share their investigative results and conduct joint actions via this team.
Joint investigation
Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, 39, is under investigation in France.
French prosecutors accuse him of failing to prevent his app, which has about 950 million users, from being used for criminal communications.
For the federal prosecutor, the formation of this JIT is timely.
“In almost every investigation into arms trafficking, for example, suspects use Telegram,” said spokesperson Eric Vandersypt.
