French citizen accused of unlawfully collecting military information in Russia on trial next week

MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues has been scheduled to begin next week, court officials said Monday.

The first hearing in the trial of Laurent Vinatier has been scheduled for Sept. 3, officials said. If convicted, Vinatier faces up to five years in prison.

Vinatier was arrested in the Russian capital in June as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.

Russian authorities accused Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security. According to Russian news agencies, he has admitted guilt.

Vinatier is an adviser with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization. The NGO in June said it was doing “everything possible to assist" him.

The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone collecting information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.

Human rights activists have criticized the law and other recent legislation as part of a 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.