Telegram boss indicted, not allowed to leave France

France has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with six crimes. The Russian-born businessman is out on bail but is banned from leaving France.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov (Photo: Getty).

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced on August 28 that the court had indicted Telegram founder Durov on six charges, including complicity in distributing child pornography, drug trafficking, money laundering, and refusing to provide information and documents at the request of competent authorities.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccou said the judge concluded that there were grounds for a formal investigation into the case.

As a result, Mr Telegram was placed under judicial supervision and banned from leaving France during this period.

Mr. Durov was released on bail of more than $5 million, but must report to the police station twice a week.

Mr Durov, 39, was arrested by police at Paris-Le Bourget airport when his private plane from Azerbaijan landed in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed that Mr. Durov was arrested for judicial investigation, not related to politics.

Mr. Durov was born and raised in Russia. He left Russia in 2014 after losing control of his former social networking company, Vkontakte.

He refused to comply with government demands to block opposition groups on the platform and would not hand over data on Ukrainian protesters to security services. He moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in August 2021. The businessman is said to be worth more than $15 billion.

Telegram is one of the world’s largest social platforms, with nearly 1 billion users. Earlier this year, Mr. Durov said that some governments were trying to exert pressure, but Telegram remained neutral and unaffected by geopolitical factors.