Telegram CEO Pavel Durov says that he has travelled from France to Dubai, even as the French authorities continue to investigate criminal activity on his messaging app.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Monday said he has returned to Dubai after his stunning arrest near a Paris airport last year tied to a French probe of criminal activity on his app. Durov – who left his native Russia years ago after tangling with the Kremlin over free speech – was arrested last August and banned from leaving France.

Telegram’s billionaire founder and Chief Executive Officer Pavel Durov is in the United Arab Emirates, where he is a citizen, after France temporarily loosened the conditions imposed on him as part of a criminal probe related to his messaging app.