French researcher Laurent Vinatier, already sentenced to three years in prison in Russia, is scheduled to appear Monday before a Moscow court for ‘espionage’. These new accusations suggest an extension of his sentence.
The hearing in this new case is to take place behind closed doors and concerns an investigation for ‘espionage’ launched against Laurent Vinatier, AFP confirmed Anastassia Pychkina, spokesperson for the Leforttovo court.
However, it is not possible to know immediately whether or not Mr. Vinatier was charged with these accusations and no specific accusation has been revealed by the investigators or the prosecution.
Incarcerated since June 2024, this researcher specializing in post-Soviet space was employed on Russian soil by the center for humanitarian dialogue, a Swiss NGO which makes mediation in conflicts outside official diplomatic circuits, in particular with regard to Ukraine.
Convicted in 2024
Laurent Vinatier was sentenced in October 2024 to three years in prison so as not to have registered as an agent from abroad, a label used by the Russian authorities to repress their detractors.
The new espionage accusations aiming for him are liable to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. ‘Knowing the Russian government It was not surprised that they are pursuing it again, that they still find things to blame him,’ the mother of the French researcher, Brigitte Vinatier, told AFP.
Saying that he was taken by these new accusations, Ms. Vinatier said he would expect ‘nothing good, nothing positive’. ‘The French authorities have claimed news and information all the time with a lack of responses from the Russian authorities who simply told them that they would be warned in time,’ she said.
Freezing
According to her, her son was recently transferred to Lefortovo Moscow prison, notably known to accommodate prisoners referred to in political resonance business.
Paris demanded from Moscow the release of its national, accusing Russia of seeking to take Western hostage, while relations between the two countries are at its lowest since the Russian assault against Ukraine launched in 2022 and the sanctions that followed.
During his first trial in October, Mr. Vinatier was found guilty of having failed in his obligation to register under the label of agent from abroad ‘, even though he collected’ information in the field of military activities ‘that can be’ used against Russia ‘security’.
The interested party had recognized the facts, but pleaded ignorance. He also apologized, hoping for the indulgence of justice.
Russian-Ukraine conflict
According to sources interviewed by AFP, the Frenchman has been working for years on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, even before the Russian offensive in February 2022, as part of discreet diplomatic efforts in parallel to those of the States. Until his arrest, he made trips to both countries.
This new case occurs after a series of acts of destabilization and disinformation charged to Russia on French territory, while France is criticized for military support in Ukraine or even censor the Russian media.
Last week, when diplomatic efforts intensified in an attempt to find a way out of the conflict in Ukraine, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had qualified his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of ogre at our doors ‘and’ predator ‘who does not want peace’.
/ATS
