MOSCOW: A French cyclist detained after trying to enter Russia’s Far East will be held in jail until at least next month, Russian state media reported Wednesday, citing a local court.
French media reported that Sofiane Sehili was arrested after crossing the Russian border with China illegally while attempting to break the record for the fastest endurance cycle from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
The RIA Novosti news agency reported that a court in Russia’s Primorye region had ordered him held in pre-trial detention until October 4.
Citing the court’s press service, it did not say what Sehili had been charged with.
It said the hearing took place at the start of September, but was reported by Russian officials only on Wednesday.
A member of a government-linked prison monitoring body who visited Sehili in jail told AFP the cyclist had a Russian e-visa but had “tried to cross the border on foot at a checkpoint only accessible for Russian and Chinese citizens.”
“Then he went to another crossing, where it is forbidden to cross on bike, you need to go on train or bus,” Vladimir Naidin from the Primorye region’s public monitoring commission told AFP via telephone.
He said Sehili was in good health but was struggling to communicate with officials in the prison facility given the language barrier.
He was being held in a cell with another inmate.
“We are monitoring everything closely and are treating him the same way we would any Russian citizen,” Sehili said.