Russian prosecutor seeks jail for French researcher tied to Swiss NGO

A Russian state prosecutor on Monday asked a court to jail Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher charged with breaking Russia’s “foreign agent” laws, for three years and three months, Russian state media reported. + Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Vinatier, a longtime researcher on the former Soviet Union working for a Swiss NGO in Geneva, was arrested in June by the FSB security service. He was accused of failing to register as a foreign agent in Russia while collecting military information of value to foreign intelligence services. The state TASS news agency said Vinatier’s defence team had asked the court to fine him instead of jailing him, arguing that the prosecutor’s request was too harsh. The charge carries a prison term of up to five years, but state media reported last month that Vinatier was in line to receive a lighter sentence because he had pleaded guilty. France says Vinatier, 48, has been arbitrarily detained and has called for his release.