Russian court extends detention of French researcher held on ‘foreign agent’ charges

A Russian court on Tuesday ruled that French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who was arrested in Moscow in June and accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent”, be held in jail until late February. Vinatier, who had been in pre-trial detention since his arrest, works with a Swiss-based NGO and is a researcher on Russia and other post-Soviet countries. The court’s ruling comes amid high tensions between Russia and France, where authorities have charged Russian-born Telegram founder Pavel Durov on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the messaging app.