THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said he was still unable to travel freely almost a year after being arrested at a Paris airport.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Durov said that following his arrest in August 2024, French authorities detained him for four days in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer or phone calls.
“They read the list of charges; I have nothing to do with these crimes, like organized crime, selling drugs,” he said. “But then I realized it’s serious because they’re not letting me out.”
Durov said the charges pertained to alleged criminal activity by some users on Telegram, the messaging app he founded that now has about a billion users.
French prosecutors charged Durov in late August with six crimes, including “complicity” in the distribution of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, arguing that he allowed illegal activity to flourish on Telegram while refusing to cooperate with authorities.
He faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 euros if convicted.
Telegram has called the case “absurd,” insisting Durov was not responsible for user behavior on a platform that complied with EU law.
Durov remained under judicial control, a legal status that restricted his travel. “I can’t leave the country because there’s still an investigation going on,” he told Carlson.
However, in March Durov was allowed to visit Dubai, where he had been living.
Last month Politico reported that French authorities had denied Durov’s request to travel to the US for “negotiations with investment funds.” The Paris prosecutor’s office told the outlet that the trip “did not appear imperative or justified.”
Russian-born Durov, who holds French and UAE citizenship, said he was not contacted by authorities before his arrest, despite Telegram’s Dubai office being located in the same building as the French consulate.
He said he believed his detention was a pressure tactic: “It’s very, very strange what happened because it could have been resolved by different means.”
Durov said Telegram complied with European law and handed over user data such as IP addresses and phone numbers when ordered by a court.
“My current status is I’m not on trial,” Durov said. “It’s an investigation intended to find out whether there will be enough evidence to put this on trial.”
The Élysée Palace and Telegram didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
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