Accused by the Russian authorities of espionage, the Frenchman Laurent Vinatier was arrested in Moscow while carrying out a mission for a Swiss NGO specializing in conflict resolution and risks several years in prison. This Friday, June 7, Russian investigators requested his placement in pre-trial detention.
Laurent Vinatier is used to traveling between Ukraine and Russia. This specialist in Central European issues has been working for years on the conflict between the two countries. Employed by the NGO Swiss Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (DH), an organization created in 1999, which intervenes “in most global conflicts, with mediation projects”, the Frenchman went to Moscow recently as part of discreet parallel diplomatic efforts by States.
Suspected of having illegally collected information on Russia’s military activities, the 48-year-old man was arrested on Thursday June 6. The Swiss NGO claimed to be working for his release. “In no case was it someone who worked, who works for France,” defended Emmanuel Macronspecifying that Laurent Vinatier, “will receive all the consular protections which are appropriate in such a case”.
Towards serious prosecutions?
For the moment, Laurent Vinatier has been formally prosecuted for having violated a law dealing with “foreign agents”, reports BFMTV. This legislation is used by Moscow to suppress its critics. Considered a crime, the French expert could receive five years in prison. But investigators cite facts hindering “Russian state security” that could portend even more serious prosecutions.
This Friday, June 7, the Investigative Committee declared that investigators requested the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow for his placement in pre-trial detention in order to “take a security measure against the accused.”