Russian court extends detention of French researcher held on ‘foreign agent’ charges

NEWS WIRES

3 September 2024 at 8:04 am·2-min read

A Russian court on Tuesday ruled that French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who was arrested in Moscow in June and accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent”, be held in jail until late February. Vinatier, who had been in pre-trial detention since his arrest, works with a Swiss-based NGO and is a researcher on Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The court’s ruling comes amid high tensions between Russia and France, where authorities have charged Russian-born Telegram founder Pavel Durov on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the messaging app.

A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered a French researcher accused of breaching Russia's "foreign agent" law be held in jail until February next year, at the start of a trial that comes amid tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict.

Laurent Vinatier, who worked for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO before he was arrested in Moscow in June, is one of several Western citizens who have been held in Russian prisons in recent years on charges that the West says are baseless.

At the opening of the trial in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky court on Tuesday, the judge ruled to extend Vinatier's detention until 21 February 2025.

The judge also set the next hearing in the case for 16 September, AFP journalists reported from the courtroom, granting Vinatier's request for more time to prepare.

Vinatier was held in a metal cage for defendants during the proceedings.

Wearing a blue shirt and dark trousers, he smiled as he spoke with his lawyers ahead of the start of the trial.

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