Russia jails French researcher Laurent Vinatier for three years

Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation group, was detained as ties between France and Russia deteriorated.

A Russian court has sentenced French researcher Laurent Vinatier to three years in prison after finding him guilty of breaching the country’s “foreign agent” law.

Vinatier, who works for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), was arrested in June amid rising tensions between Moscow and Kyiv’s Western allies over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The 48-year-old was charged with gathering information on Russia’s military without being registered as a “foreign agent”.

Judge Natalya Cheprasova ignored defence pleas for a fine and sentenced Vinatier to three years in a penal colony, two years less than the maximum possible sentence.

In a speech to the court before he was sentenced, Vinatier said he loved Russia, apologised for breaking the law, and even recited a verse by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

Wearing a blue open-necked shirt and jeans, he stood behind metal bars and listened intently as the judge gave her verdict. He was blinking rapidly but did not show any visible emotion.

Vinatier was not allowed to speak to the media, but his lawyer Pavel Mamonov told journalists: “We consider the sentence harsh and will definitely appeal.”

France has designated Vinatier as arbitrarily detained and has called for his release. President Emmanuel Macron has denied that Vinatier worked for the French state and has described his arrest as part of a misinformation campaign by Moscow.

Following the court decision on Monday, the government condemned the “extreme severity” of the sentence and reiterated its call for his release.

“The ‘foreign agent’ legislation contributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia,” France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.

In a statement following Vinatier’s arrest, HD said its staff work globally and “routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict”.

The “foreign agent” law has been widely used to crack down on critics of the Kremlin.

A longtime researcher on the former Soviet Union, Vinatier was arrested at a time when tensions were rising after Macron said France might be prepared under certain conditions to send troops to Ukraine.

Ties have deteriorated further since August when French authorities placed Pavel Durov, the Russian founder of the Telegram messaging app, under formal investigation in connection with the use of the platform for crimes such as fraud, money laundering and child pornography. Durov’s lawyer has called the proceedings against him absurd.

In his final speech in court, Vinatier said that he first visited Russia 20 years ago and decided to work there.

“I fell in love with Russia. My wife is Russian, my friends are Russian. I lived a Russian life, that’s who I am,” he said.

Russia has arrested several Westerners and charged them with serious crimes during its Ukraine offensive.

On August 1, Russia freed American reporter Evan Gershkovich, former United States Marine Paul Whelan and more than a dozen others – including Russian opposition politicians – in its biggest prisoner swap with the West since the Cold War.