(16 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PLEASE NOTE: AP IS OPERATING IN RUSSIA ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN RESTRICTIONS ON ALL REPORTING RELATED TO THE ONGOING MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow – 16 September 2024
1. French citizen Laurent Vinatier walking through hallway into courtroom
2. Various of Vinatier talking to lawyer from courtroom cell
3. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Aleksey Sinitsyn, lawyer:
"As you have already heard, the trial has been adjourned today because the prosecutor needs time to prepare for the oral arguments."
4. Various of Vinatier talking to lawyer from cell
STORYLINE:
The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues started Monday but was quickly adjourned for a month.
Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow in June, had earlier admitted guilt, setting the stage for a fast-track trial without a detailed examination of evidence. But quickly after the trial opened on Monday, the judge adjourned the hearing until Oct. 14 when prosecutors will declare the sentence they will seek.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
Vinatier’s arrest came as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.
Russian authorities accused Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security.
The prosecutors accused Vinatier of collecting military information during his meetings with three Russian citizens in Moscow in 2021-2022. The Russian citizens weren’t named in the indictment.
Vinatier is an adviser with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization. The NGO in June said it was doing “everything possible to assist” him.
The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone collecting information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.
Human rights activists have criticised the law and other recent legislation as part of a Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of its actions in Ukraine.
Arrests on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
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