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Moscow court rules to keep French researcher in jail under ‘foreign agents’ law
- Laurent Vinatier, 47, is the latest Westerner arrested in Russia in early June, charged with breaching Moscow’s ‘foreign agents’ law
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A Moscow court ruled on Thursday to keep French researcher Laurent Vinatier, arrested last month and accused of gathering military information, in pre-trial detention.
The 47-year-old works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and became the latest Westerner arrested in Russia in early June, officially charged with breaching Moscow’s “foreign agents” law.
Russia’s security services accuse him of collecting military information and his arrest came as tensions between Moscow and Paris escalated over Ukraine.
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The Moscow City Court on Thursday rejected Vinatier’s appeal request to be placed in house arrest.
Vinatier appeared in court via video link, wearing a black T-shirt and sitting behind bars, speaking accented Russian and visibly emotional.
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“I will try to speak Russian. I am an analyst, a researcher, a writer … I always wanted to adequately present the interest and position of Russia on international relations in my work,” he said.
“I love Russia, my wife is Russian, my life is linked with Russia,” he told the court, adding: “I do not understand why I am here.”
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