Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of the messaging app Telegram, has been temporarily allowed to leave France despite being under investigation.
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Telegram's founder and CEO Pavel Durov said on Monday that he had returned to Dubai from France, as French authorities continue to investigate criminal activity on the popular messaging app.
Russian-born Durov, who is an Emirati citizen, was arrested at an airport near Paris in August. He was handed preliminary charges in connection to crimes committed on the app, including drug trafficking, money laundering and the distribution of sexually explicit images of children. Durov has denied the charges.
Durov had been barred from leaving France during the investigation, ordered to pay €5 million for bail and directed to report to a police station twice a week.
But French authorities have loosened those conditions and allowed him to leave the country temporarily, the French news agency AFP reported on Saturday.
"As you may have heard, I’ve returned to Dubai after spending several months in France due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram," Durov wrote in a post on the app. "The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home."
Preliminary charges under French law mean magistrates have strong reason to believe a crime was committed but allow more time for further investigation.
"I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen," Durov added.
Durov said in his post that "when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations".
He said after his arrest last year that Telegram is not "some sort of anarchic paradise". The surging numbers of users on the app "caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform", Durov said at the time.
Telegram was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Kremlin's crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.
The app continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where both media outlets and officials use it to share information on Russia's ongoing war and deliver missile and air raid alerts.
However, Western governments have often criticised Telegram for its lack of content moderation, which experts say opens up the app to potential use in criminal activity.