Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been reportedly released from the French police

French authorities charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov late on Wednesday with preliminary charges related to alleged criminal activity on his messaging platform. After being questioned for four days, Durov was released but is prohibited from leaving France while the investigation continues.

Durov, who co-founded Telegram, was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport near Paris as part of an extensive judicial investigation launched last month. On Wednesday night, investigative judges filed the charges, requiring him to post €5 million in bail and report to the police twice a week.

The Russia-born Durov, who also holds French citizenship, faces allegations that Telegram has been used for illegal activities, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that the company has refused to comply with legal requests for information. The first charge is "complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group," which carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €500,000, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Durov’s arrest has sparked outrage in Russia, where some officials have called it politically motivated and accused the West of hypocrisy on issues of free speech. The reaction has surprised some critics, as Russian authorities themselves attempted to ban Telegram in 2018, only to lift the ban two years later.

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the situation on Monday, stating that Durov’s arrest was not politically motivated but part of an independent judicial investigation. He emphasized in a post on X that while France values freedom of expression, those freedoms must operate within legal boundaries to protect citizens and uphold fundamental rights both online and offline.