MOSCOW: A court in Moscow on Friday 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 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 Vinatier repeatedly traveled to Russia to collect this information. Under Russian law, it is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison.
Vinatier appeared in court on Friday. Russia’s state news agency Tass cited his lawyer as saying in the courtroom that Vinatier admitted his guilt and maintained that he simply didn’t know about the requirement. The report also said Vinatier apologized to the court.
The judge ordered the man to be remanded in pre-trial detention until Aug. 5.
Vinatier is an adviser with the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based nongovernmental organization.
Later Friday, the Geneva-based NGO said it was doing “everything possible to assist our colleague Laurent,” such as by helping to secure legal representation for him and reach out to Russian authorities.
“As the case proceeds, we continue to seek information about the circumstances leading up to his arrest and the charges made against him,” it said.
The charges against 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 criticized 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.
Arrests on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Recent high-profile arrests include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges in March 2023, and US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was taken into custody in October 2023 on the same charges as Vinatier.
Russia jails French citizen detained on charges of collecting military data
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Russia jails French citizen detained on charges of collecting military data
Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado has left Oslo
- “She is no longer in the city of Oslo,” Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli wrote on X
- Machado, who has lived in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024, arrived in Oslo last week
OSLO: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has left Oslo, a member of her entourage said on Wednesday without providing details of her whereabouts.
“She is no longer in the city of Oslo,” Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli wrote on X.
Machado, who has lived in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024, arrived in Oslo last week.
She was due to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in the Norwegian capital on Wednesday, but was delayed and did not make it in time.
According to a spokesperson, the 58-year-old opposition leader fractured a vertebra during her secret journey out of hiding in Venezuela to Norway.
She “is doing well and during these days she is attending medical appointments with a specialist as part of her prompt and full recovery,” Noselli said.
Machado has accused President Nicolas Maduro of stealing Venezuela’s July 2024 election, from which she was banned — a claim backed by much of the international community.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year for promoting democratic rights and “for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
