Telegram founder Durov allowed to temporarily leave France: sources

Telegram founder Pavel Durov he was charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content and released on a five-million-euro ($5.6 million) bail
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been allowed to temporarily leave France, where he is charged with multiple infractions linked to allegedly enabling organised crime, sources told AFP.

“He departed France this morning,” a source familiar with the case told AFP, adding Durov had left with the authorities’ permission.

According to another source, an investigating judge had authorised him to leave France for “several weeks.”

A third source said Mr. Durov had departed for Dubai.

A Telegram spokeswoman declined to comment when reached by AFP, saying the company would later issue a statement.

The investigating judge accepted Durov’s request to modify conditions of his supervision several days ago, said the source close to the case.

Mr. Durov, now 40, was sensationally detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris in August 2024 and charged with a litany of violations related to the popular messaging app he founded. He had been banned from leaving the country.

After days of questioning, he was charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content and released on a five-million-euro ($5.6 million) bail.

Mr. Durov — who holds Russian, French and United Arab Emirates passports — initially criticised his arrest, but he has since announced steps appearing to bow to Paris’s demands.

In January, the Telegram founder told investigating magistrates in France that he “realised the seriousness of all the allegations”, according to a source.