All news
Frenchman Vinatier sentenced to three years in foreign agent case
Laurent Vinatier, a French citizen who was declared a foreign agent in Russia and charged with collecting data and failing to fulfill his duties in connection with this status, has been sentenced to three years in prison, the prosecutor's office reported. The case was heard in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court.
Vinatier was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (evasion of duties established by the legislation of the Russian Federation with respect to foreign agents). The prosecutor's office sought 3 years and 3 months of imprisonment for him, TASS reports.
In his closing remarks, Vinatier read a poem by poet Alexander Pushkin, "When Life Deceives," the agency reports.
"When I ended up in the pretrial detention center, I learned Pushkin's poems <...>. "The mind lives in the future <...> everything is immediate, everything will pass. He quoted a line from the work: "Whatever happens, it will be good."
"If life deceives you,
Don't be sad or angry!
In days of despondency, humble yourself.
Happy days will come.
The mind lives in the future.
This is really sad:
Everything at once and everything will pass.
Whatever happens, it will be good."