Pavel Durov said that the investigation into illicit activity on the messaging app he runs is ongoing, but that he had returned home to Dubai.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging app Telegram who was charged in France last year with a range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app, has been allowed to temporarily leave the country.
Mr. Durov had been barred from leaving France, but the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday that the investigative judges handling his case had lifted the travel restrictions between March 15 and April 7, when he must return to France.
“I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram,” said Mr. Durov, a Russian-born entrepreneur who also has citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates. “The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home.”
Mr. Durov, 40, was detained near Paris last August and barred from leaving the country while he was under investigation. It was a rare move by French legal authorities, who charged him personally with complicity by running an online platform seen as enabling illegal activity. After being released from custody last year, he was required to check in at a police station twice a week.
Mr. Durov is facing a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He was also charged with complicity in crimes such as enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Mr. Durov has criticized French authorities for the arrest, saying he cannot be held personally responsible for what users post on Telegram. But the company has made several changes since August to more aggressively police its platform and to be more cooperative with law enforcement agencies around the world.