MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia The trial against the court over the illegal collection of information on military matters will begin next week, court officials said Monday.
The first hearing in Laurent Vinatier’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 3, officials said. If found guilty, Vinatier faces up to five years in prison.
Vinatier was arrested in the Russian capital in June as tensions between Moscow and Paris rose following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.
Russian authorities accused Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security. He has pleaded guilty, according to Russian news agencies.
Vinatier is an advisor to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization. The NGO said in June that it was doing “everything possible” to help him.
The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone who gathers information on military matters to register with authorities as a foreign agent.
Human rights activists have criticized the law and other recent legislation. The criticism is part of a crackdown by the Kremlin on independent media and political activists aimed at suppressing criticism of the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine.
Arrests on charges of espionage and collecting confidential data have become increasingly common in Russia since the country sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
