Frenchman Laurent Vinatier, 48, is still imprisoned in Russia. This Thursday, April 10, it was transferred to a transit prison colonyannounced his family. His lawyer informed them that he had been sent to Toula, some 200 kilometers south of Moscow. He will make a fortnight.
Also according to Laurent Vinatier’s lawyer, sentenced in October 2024 to three years in prison for not having registered as “agent from abroad”, he will be then transferred to another establishment still unknown to serve his sentence.
In Russia, penitentiary transfers like this are procedures that often take several weeksrelatives of the convicts that can remain all this time without news.
Laurent Vinatier is a Researcher specializing in post-Soviet spaceand works for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss NGO which makes mediation in conflicts outside official diplomatic circuits, in particular with regard to Ukraine.
An “arbitrary” arrest, according to France
Laurent Vinatier was in Russia to Collect “information in the field of military activities” Can be “used against safety” of Russia, assured Moscow.
Russian authorities have used for years The status of “agent from abroad” to suppress their detractorsbut it is the first time that a foreign national has been incarcerated for this reason.
The interested party has recognized the facts, but pleaded ignorance. He also apologized, hoping for the indulgence of justice.
-The France denounces its conviction as “arbitrary” And calls for his “immediate release”.
“Actually, It is a form of hostage taking“, Judged Sylvie Bermann, former French ambassador to Russia, on RTL, last October.” This arrest is a pretext that is used to condemn opponents, dissidents and others, “she also said.
Russia has been accused in the past by Westerners to stop foreign nationals so that they can then exchange them for Russians detained in the West. Relations between Moscow and France are also freezing, since the Kremlin sparked an assault against Ukraine three years ago.
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