Laurent Vinatier is currently facing a single charge. He is accused of failing to register as a ‘foreign agent’.
Laurent Vinatier, staff member of the Swiss NGO ‘Center for Humanitarian Dialogue’, is stopped since last June 7, and has been accused by Russian authorities of collecting military information. Russian investigators accuse him of “failing to register as a foreign agent.” The French citizen, who is 47 years old, admitted his guilt during the interrogation to which he was subjected, according to the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB, on Wednesday, July 3.
“During his visits to Moscow, Laurent Vinatier established numerous contacts with representatives of expert and scientific circles, such as political scientists, sociologists, economists and military experts, as well as with officials,” the FSB said in a statement on Wednesday. “By communicating with these people, the Frenchman collected military and military-technical information that could be used against the security of the Russian Federation by foreign special services,” he added, referring to this citizen, a specialist in the post-Soviet space and involved in attempts at informal mediation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
An expected decision from the judges to know the future of Laurent Vinatier
This communication from the Investigation Commission occurs on the eve of a new hearing in the French case, during which the courts must rule on extension of his preventive detentionwhich must end on August 5, and the conditions of this possible extension.
At the moment, the only charge against Laurent Vinatier is that of “not having registered as a foreign agent” as a “person who collected information on military and military-technical activities in the Russian Federation.” The legislation on foreign agents is widely used by Russian authorities for repress or monitor those who are critical of the Kremlin. The crime carries a sentence of five years in prison. If the charges are reclassified as “espionage”, the Frenchman could face much longer sentences, up to 20 years in prison.
The case comes at a time of great tension between Moscow and Paris. The Russian authorities are suspicious of a series of acts of destabilization and misinformation in France, while the French Government is criticized for its growing support for Ukraine.
