MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia on charges of illegally gathering information on military matters, began Monday but was quickly postponed for a month.
Laurent Vinatier, who was arrested in Moscow in June, had previously pleaded guilty, clearing the way for a speedy trial without detailed examination of evidence. But shortly after the trial began on Monday, the judge postponed the hearing until October 14, when prosecutors will announce the sentence they will seek.
If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison.
Since Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, arrests of people for espionage and collecting confidential data have been increasing in Russia.
Vinatier’s arrest came as tensions between Moscow and Paris rose following President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.
Russian authorities accuse Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information on Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security.
Prosecutors accuse Vinatier of gathering military information during his meetings with three Russian citizens in Moscow in 2021-2022. The Russian citizens are not named in the indictment.
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.