Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Returns to Dubai Amid French Investigation

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has announced his return to Dubai after spending several months in France, where he was subject to an ongoing investigation related to alleged criminal activity facilitated on his messaging app, The Associated Press reports.

Durov revealed his location in a post on his Telegram channel on Monday.

Durov had previously been detained in France last year and issued preliminary charges for allegedly permitting illegal activities, including the sharing of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, on the platform. Following his detention, Durov was reportedly barred from leaving France and required to check in with local police twice a week.

“As you may have heard, I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram,” Durov stated in his post. “The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home.”

French authorities have accused Telegram of refusing to cooperate with investigators by withholding information and documents related to criminal activity on the platform, despite legal requests.

Durov thanked the “investigative judges for letting this happen” in his post.

The investigation began after Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris last August and questioned for four days. He maintains that Telegram has consistently cooperated and exceeded its legal obligations in terms of moderation, collaboration, and combating crime.

Following his initial arrest last year, Durov asserted that Telegram is not “some sort of anarchic paradise” and attributed the increased criminal activity to the platform’s rapid user growth, which “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”