Regarding the move, Durov and his legal team have not made a public remark.
After receiving consent from a French court, Pavel Durov, the creator of the well-known messaging software Telegram, left France and moved to Dubai.
A Barron’s story citing unidentified sources claims that on March 13, Durov was granted permission by the French court to leave the country and fly to Dubai, a city renowned for its business-friendly atmosphere and absence of extradition arrangements with other countries.
Although the specifics of the court’s ruling are yet unknown, discussions over jurisdiction, privacy, and the obligations of internet companies to prevent unlawful activity on their platforms have been rekindled by Durov’s move.
“He (Durov) departed France this morning,” according to AFP, which cited anonymous sources, adding that he did so with permission from the authorities. He had been given permission to depart France for “several weeks,” according to another source.
When the creator of Telegram was briefly detained at Paris’s Le Bourget airport on August 24, his legal troubles started.
Charges were issued on Aug. 28, 2024, accusing Durov of operating a platform that allegedly facilitates illicit activity.
Toncoin’s daily price chart. TradingView is the source.
When it was announced that Durov was leaving France, the cryptocurrency market responded favorably. The native cryptocurrency of The Open Network (TON), Toncoin TON$3.31, had a market price increase of more than 18%, per data from TradingView and Cointelegraph Markets Pro.
According to unverified sources, Durov has either reached a settlement in France or been granted permission to depart the country while the legal proceedings are still pending.
By the time of publication, Durov had not confirmed his departure on social media, and the French government had not yet made a public comment, should the story be confirmed.
As previously reported, in August 2024, Durov was unexpectedly taken into custody by French officials at Paris’s Le Bourget airport.
On August 28, the Parquet de Paris, France’s prosecutor’s office, swiftly released a statement on preliminary charges against Durov, charging the creator of Telegram with enabling a network that facilitates illegal activities.
According to the prosecution, Durov may be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined 500,000 euros ($550,000).
On August 28, Durov was freed from French detention after the payment of $6 million bail. He had to stay in France, however, and the French government only ordered him to appear in court when the inquiry was over.
Durov, a 40-year-old Russian national, is also a French and United Arab Emirates passport holder.
The Russian government officially stated its desire to help in Durov’s case shortly after his detention in France, underscoring the complexity of the situation since Durov is both a French and Russian citizen.
Durov’s escape from France, if verified, would be another significant development in the history of Russian programmers being released by governments throughout the globe.
In Moscow, Alexander Vinnik gets off the aircraft. The Moscow Times is the source.
Only a month ago, Alexander Vinnik, the owner of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, made his last trip back to Russia after a protracted legal battle over his detention and indictment since his arrest in 2017.
Vinnik’s release from US jail was part of a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia as the two nations attempt to restore diplomatic relations after Donald Trump’s return to office in January, according to a Wall Street Journal story.
Helen Partz provided more reporting.
