More than four months that he has been detained in Russia, Laurent Vinatier must be tried this Monday, October 14 in Moscow. The Frenchman was arrested at the beginning of June on suspicion of espionage. His trial has already been postponed several times. For four months he has been detained in a prison located on the outskirts of Moscow.
According to our information, the 48-year-old researcher is well treated. He received a visit from his wife and consular services. Russian justice accuses him of not having registered as a foreign agent and of having collected intelligence on the army. Mathieu, his best friend, manages to send him letters in detention. “Provided we respect around fifteen commandments and prohibitions, we can effectively communicate with him. He then responds to us in Russian,” he tells us.
“The last I heard, his morale was good. He was teaching English to his fellow prisoners and he was playing chess. Imagine that Laurent, who writes articles on Russia and Central Asia, is spying militarily on Russia, he simply serves as a hostage. These are relatively spartan detention conditions,” denounces Mathieu. The Frenchman’s friends and family are convinced that he is now incarcerated due to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Paris. They are afraid that it will be used as a bargaining chip. During a first hearing, Laurent Vinatier decided to admit the facts. He risks, in theory, up to 5 years in prison.
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