A Moscow court sentenced on Oct. 14 French national Laurent Vinatier to three years and three months in prison over allegedly violating Russia's "foreign agents" legislation.
Vinatier, who holds a PhD and works for the Swiss Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), was arrested while visiting Russia in June for reportedly failing to register as a foreign agent.
The "foreign agents" designation requires people and entities who allegedly receive "support" from abroad to place a disclaimer in all of their publishing and mandates strict financial reporting. It is broadly seen as a means to repress domestic opposition.
Russian investigators claimed that beyond the violation of the foreign agents registration, Vinatier had plead guilty to illegally obtaining information about the military.
There is no way to independently verify the validity of Vinatier's alleged confession. Russia does not provide transparent access to its legal system, and international human rights organizations have long detailed rampant abuse in prisons, as well as the use of torture to coerce confessions.
Russia has routinely arrested foreign nationals, a number of whom were released in a high-profile prisoner exchange in August. Moscow has been accused of detaining foreigners on trumped-up charges and holding them as hostages to leverage the release of Russian nationals held in the West.
Chris York
