Pavel Durov questioned again in Paris for over six hours

Telegram founder Pavel Durov was questioned by investigating judges in Paris for more than six hours on July 8, according to AFP and TF1.

Durov arrived at the Paris courthouse at around 10 a.m. local time. A source close to the case said this was his fourth round of questioning since he was charged in 2024 with several offenses linked to organized crime and placed under judicial supervision.

After the hearing, Durov’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, Robin Binsard, and Guillaume Martine, told AFP that nearly two years after the charges were filed, investigators had still failed to produce evidence supporting the allegations against their client.

The defense team also said it had filed complaints in France and with European courts. Durov attended the hearing wearing black trousers, a black hoodie, and black sneakers.

“The only thing that has changed after the custody of Mr. Durov in France is that the French authorities have begun to correctly send their judicial requests to Telegram,” Telegram’s press office said.

In May, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said French authorities were continuing their investigation into Durov. She confirmed that the Telegram founder remained under judicial supervision and that the investigating judges had not yet completed their work.

The prosecutor gave no timeline for the investigation to conclude or for a potential trial to begin. Durov previously said the case involved more than a dozen charges, each carrying a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

How did the case begin?

Durov was arrested at Paris Le Bourget Airport in late August 2024. He was later charged over allegations that Telegram had failed to prevent the distribution of criminal content on the platform.

Durov was initially barred from leaving France while the investigation was underway. That restriction was eased in June 2025, when he was allowed to travel to Dubai.
In November 2025, the Telegram founder secured the lifting of his remaining travel restrictions, allowing him to leave France freely. He is also no longer required to report regularly to French police.

In April 2026, Durov said Telegram would be more likely to leave a country than hand over user data to “corrupt bureaucrats.”

Durov has said he was arrested because people he had never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes.

“Ironically, I was arrested due to the French police’s own mistake: before August 2024, they ignored French and EU laws and hadn’t sent any of their queries to Telegram via the required legal process. They could have learned the correct procedure simply by googling it or asking,” Durov said.