Russian prosecutor seeks jail for French researcher tied to Swiss NGO

The French researcher was an employee of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss-based conflict mediation organisation. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

A Russian state prosecutor on Monday asked a court to jail Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher charged with breaking Russia’s “foreign agent” laws, for three years and three months, Russian state media reported.

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Vinatier, a longtime researcher on the former Soviet Union working for a Swiss NGO in Geneva, was arrested in June by the FSB security service. He was accused of failing to register as a foreign agent in Russia while collecting military information of value to foreign intelligence services.

The state TASS news agency said Vinatier’s defence team had asked the court to fine him instead of jailing him, arguing that the prosecutor’s request was too harsh.

The charge carries a prison term of up to five years, but state media reported last month that Vinatier was in line to receive a lighter sentence because he had pleaded guilty.

France says Vinatier, 48, has been arbitrarily detained and has called for his release. Fellow academics who know him have told Reuters he is a respected scholar involved in legitimate research.

French President Emmanuel Macron has denied that Vinatier worked for the French state and has described his arrest as part of a disinformation campaign by Moscow.

Vinatier is an employee of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss-based conflict mediation organisation. In a statement following his arrest, the centre said its staff work globally and “routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict”.

The FSB said in July that Vinatier had tried to use his numerous contacts with political scientists, sociologists, economists, military experts and government officials to collect military details “that could be used by foreign intelligence services to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation”.

Under Russian law, people are obliged to contact the justice ministry and register as foreign agents if they are involved in political activity or are collecting military information while receiving financial or other help from abroad.

Vinatier was not included in a major East-West prisoner swap on August 1.

Russia says relations with France have hit a low since French authorities placed the Russian founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, under formal investigation in August in connection with the use of the platform for crimes such as fraud, money laundering and child pornography. Durov’s lawyer has called the proceedings against him absurd.

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