Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said Monday that he has travelled from France to Dubai as French authorities continue to investigate criminal activity on his messaging app.
Durov revealed his whereabouts in a post on his Telegram channel. He had been detained last year after arriving in Paris, where French authorities handed him for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform.
After his arrest, Durov was barred from leaving France pending further investigation, and was required to report to a police station twice a week,
鈥淎s you may have heard, I鈥檝e returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram,鈥 Durov wrote. 鈥淭he process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home."
French investigators say Telegram was used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that the platform refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.
In his post, Durov thanked the 鈥渋nvestigative judges for letting this happen.鈥
Investigators detained Durov last August when he arrived at Le Bourget airport outside Paris and questioned him for four days as part of a sweeping probe.
Durov said in his post that 鈥渨hen it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations.鈥
He insisted last year after his arrest that Telegram is not 鈥渟ome sort of anarchic paradise,鈥 and blamed surging numbers of Telegram users, which 鈥渃aused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.鈥
