French researcher imprisoned in Russia under ‘foreign agent’ law

France has called for the “immediate release” of Laurent Vinatier, a researcher who was convicted of breaking Russia’s law on “foreign agents” and sentenced to three years in prison.

Dr Vinatier, an expert on post-Soviet countries and an adviser at the Swiss-based non-profit Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was arrested in June and subsequently charged with “failing to register as a foreign agent in Russia” despite “collecting military information of value to foreign intelligence services”, Reuters reported.

The researcher, a French citizen who completed his doctorate at Sciences Po, pleaded guilty to the charges after his arrest, stating that he had not been aware that he needed to register as a foreign agent. French president Emmanuel Macron decried Russian “propaganda” about Dr Vinatier, saying it did not “correspond to reality”.

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, also known as HD, said in June: “In the course of HD’s activities as an impartial and independent mediation organisation, our people work around the world and routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict.”

On Tuesday, an HD spokesperson told Times Higher Education, “This is obviously not the outcome we were hoping for,” stating that they would not comment further “so as not to prejudice the next steps in the process”. Dr Vinatier’s lawyers said they intended to appeal the sentence, Le Monde reported.

In a statement released after Dr Vinatier’s sentencing on Monday, the French Foreign Ministry called the court’s decision “extremely harsh” and urged Russia to release the academic and repeal its “foreign agents” laws. “The ‘foreign agents’ legislation contributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia, such as freedom of association, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression,” the ministry said.

“It is helping to abolish the last spaces of freedom that were available to civil society, the independent media and political opposition groups in Russia. This legislation goes against the human rights commitments to which Russia has subscribed.”

Dr Vinatier’s conviction, Reuters noted, comes at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and France. In August, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said relations between the countries had hit a new low after the arrest in France of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who holds both Russian and French citizenship.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com