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France 24
France 24
Politics
NEWS WIRES

Telegram CEO Durov placed under formal investigation and banned from leaving France

File photo: Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 23, 2016. © Albert Gea, Reuters

Russian-born Pavel Durov, the CEO of messaging app Telegram, will be placed under formal investigation after four days of questioning by French police and is forbidden to leave French territory, Paris prosecutors said on Wedneday following Durov's appearance in a Paris court. Durov was arrested outside of Paris on Saturday in a probe of 12 alleged crimes related to drug trafficking, the sale of child sexual abuse material and fraud on the messaging platform. 

French authorities handed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov preliminary charges Wednesday for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app, and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation.

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