Pavel Durov said that the investigation into illicit activity on the messaging app he runs is ongoing, but that he had returned home to Dubai.

Durov was arrested at an airport near Paris last August and subsequently placed under formal investigation, with a ban on leaving France. The probe further soured relations between Paris and Moscow amid the war in Ukraine and fanned debate over the boundaries of free speech and law enforcement on internet platforms.

Pavel Durov, chief executive officer of the Telegram messaging app, has been allowed to leave France for several weeks, Agence France-Press reported, citing sources who weren’t identified.