PARIS, March 17. /TASS/. France has ruled to suspend for three weeks the supervision measures in place against Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who has returned to Dubai from Paris, a French prosecutor's office source told TASS. "The judicial supervision obligations for Pavel Durov have been suspended for the period lasting from March 15 to April 7," the source said.

The source said the decision was made "by the investigating judge."

About the Durov case

On August 24 last year, Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris. On August 28 his preliminary detention period ended, and the billionaire was sent to court, where a judicial investigator charged Durov with six counts, which include complicity in the administration of a network platform to allow illegal transactions as part of a criminal group. Such an offense, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros.

The tech guru was placed under judicial supervision and ordered to pay 5 million euro in bail, per a ruling the investigating judge. He was also ordered to report to the police station twice a week and was forbidden to leave France.

On December 6, 2024, the AFP news agency reported that Durov arrived at a Paris court for questioning on the merits of a case about possible involvement in criminal activities carried out using a messenger for the first time since his detention in France. The businessman refused to comment to the media on the course of the trial and charges against him, saying only that he "believes in French justice."

The Wired Internet portal, citing a representative of the prosecutor's office Meilis de Reck, reported in early February that Durov's case would go to trial no earlier than in early 2026. She added that it was "too early" to discuss any details of a potential settlement agreement between Durov and the French authorities.