Trial starts for Frenchman accused of unlawfully collecting military information in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues started Monday but was quickly adjourned for a month.

Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow in June, had earlier admitted guilt, setting the stage for a fast-track trial without a detailed examination of evidence. But quickly after the trial opened on Monday, the judge adjourned the hearing until Oct. 14 when prosecutors will declare the sentence they will seek.

Vinatier's lawyer, Aleksey Sinitsyn, said the trial was adjourned because the prosecution needed more time to prepare for final arguments.

If convicted, Vinatier could face up to five years in prison.

Detentions on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Vinatier's arrest came as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.

Russian authorities accused Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of the country’s security.

The prosecutors accused Vinatier of collecting military information during his meetings with three Russian citizens in Moscow in 2021-2022. The Russian citizens weren't named in the indictment.

Vinatier is an adviser with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization. The NGO in June said it was doing “everything possible to assist” him.

The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone collecting information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.

Human rights activists have criticized the law and other recent legislation as part of a Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of its actions in Ukraine.

French citizen Laurent Vinatier sits in a cage in a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier, right, sits in a cage in a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier, left, sits in a cage behind his lawyers in a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier, right, sits in a cage in a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier, center, is escorted to a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.(AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier, right, is escorted to a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

French citizen Laurent Vinatier sits in a cage in a courtroom in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — In a duplex in a quiet neighborhood of the Hungarian capital is the headquarters of a company that is linked to the manufacture of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria as part of an apparent Israeli operation against the Hezbollah militant group.

BAC Consulting shares the ground floor of the modest building in Budapest with other enterprises. On Wednesday morning, Associated Press journalists saw the names of multiple companies, including BAC, posted on pieces of printer paper and taped in a window.

In a corporate registry, the company listed 118 official functions, including sugar and oil production, retail jewelry sales and natural gas extraction.

BAC reportedly supplied the thousands of devices that killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded about 2,800 on Tuesday in a coordinated attack that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed on Israel.

More attacks were reported Wednesday, when walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in multiple parts of Lebanon. The second wave of attacks killed at least nine people and wounded more than 300, the Health Ministry said.

The Taiwanese company whose brand appears on the pagers, Gold Apollo, said Wednesday that it had authorized the use of its name on the devices.

BAC was authorized “to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement.

A Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary.

“Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary,” Zoltán Kovács posted Wednesday on X.

Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, and the matter posed no national security risk to Hungary, he added.

BAC Consulting, which was registered as an limited liability company in May 2022, brought in $725,000 in revenue in 2022 and $593,000 in 2023, according to the company registry.

Its CEO is Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who describes herself on LinkedIn as a strategic adviser and business developer with a doctorate.

BAC could be an acronym, in the Eastern name order that is used in Hungary, for Bársony-Arcidiacono Cristiana.

The AP attempted to reach Bársony-Arcidiacono by email and social media sites but received no response. It was not clear what connection, if any, she or BAC had to the attack.

She describes herself as a physicist and a consultant for projects to solve environmental and political issues. She co-authored a paper in 2022 for a UNESCO conference on underground water management.

Among other positions, Bársony-Arcidiacono's LinkedIn page said she serves on the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute, a sustainability group. But the group does not list Bársony-Arcidiacono among its board members on its website.

She also writes that she is a strategic adviser for major international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the CARE humanitarian agency, as well as for venture capital firms.

The IAEA confirmed that a person named Cristiana Arcidiacino was an intern with the agency for nine months in 2008 and 2009. The other relationships could not be immediately confirmed.

In an article featuring her on an online expert site, Bársony-Arcidiacono said: “A good understanding of local issues and a network of collaborators in various areas are important to succeed.”

The BAC Consulting website, which became unavailable Wednesday, describes the company's fields of expertise as “environment, development and international affairs.”

Phone calls to the number listed for BAC went unanswered. A woman who emerged Wednesday from the Budapest building housing the company's headquarters said the location is used as a service that provides addresses to companies. She would not give her name.

Social media accounts indicate Bársony-Arcidiacono studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has also posted published scientific papers on water ionization, climate change and other topics in the natural sciences.

An Instagram account features many of her “photos and sketches from around the world.”

“Sicily, Budapest, Paris, Africa, etc.,” it reads.

Associated Press Writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, talks to the local media in front of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Előd Novak, a member of the National Assembly of Hungary, tries to enter to a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Local media works around a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

This shows a sign featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria is headquartered in Budapest Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)