Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was approved by a French court to leave the country starting July 10 to handle affairs at the company's headquarters in Dubai, UAE, for a period of 14 days. This permission marks his second opportunity to travel since a brief departure in March this year.
Previously, Durov's application to travel to Norway for a speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum was denied, and he participated remotely instead. He has publicly criticized the French government's regulatory system in multiple interviews, directly stating that there is a "systemic collapse" in France, and criticizing President Macron's policies as "lacking vision," suggesting such policies could lead to a brain drain in the tech sector.
Since his arrest upon entering Paris in August last year, Durov has been charged with 12 offenses including aiding illegal dissemination and unregistered encryption services, and has paid a 5 million euro bail, with the requirement to report twice a week and a ban on leaving the country. This court decision is specifically for travel to Dubai for business, while other judicial supervision measures continue to be enforced.
The cryptocurrency and privacy technology community views this permission as a recognition of freedom of speech and entrepreneurial rights by European justice, while the supervision of the Durov case continues to influence the regulatory landscape of digital platforms. Even with permission, Durov will continue to cooperate with the French judicial investigation by law and uphold Telegram's commitment to privacy and encrypted communication protection globally.
