A court in Moscow has ordered a French citizen accused of collecting information on military issues in Russia be held in jail pending investigation and trial.
Laurent Vinatier was arrested in the Russian capital on Thursday as tensions have flared between Moscow and Paris following French president Emmanuel Macron’s statements about the possibility of deploying the country’s troops in Ukraine.
The authorities accused Mr Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities,” which could be used to the detriment of the country’s security.
They did not provide details of the accusations beyond alleging that Mr Vinatier repeatedly travelled to Russia to collect this information. Under Russian law, it is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.
The judge ordered Mr Vinatier to be remanded in pre-trial detention until Aug. 5.
Vinatier is an adviser with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based non governmental organisation, which said it was doing “everything possible to assist our colleague Lauren.”
The charges against Mr Vinatier stem from a recently adopted law that requires anyone who collects information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.
Human rights activists have criticised the law and other legislation adopted lately as part of a multi-pronged Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of its actions in Ukraine.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/06/08/russia-ukraine-war-putin-europe-nuclear-weapons/
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Publish date : 2024-06-08 07:40:21
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