MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. French citizen Laurent Vinatier (designated in Russia as a foreign agent) has pleaded guilty of evading obligations under Russia’s foreign agent legislation, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"I admit my guilt in full," he said after the prosecutor read out charges.

On September 3, Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky district court extended his arrest until February 21.

Earlier on Monday, the court granted his defense’s motion to consider the case under a special procedure. This means that the case will be considered without examination and evaluation of the collected evidence, and the defendant cannot be sentenced to a punishment exceeding two-thirds of the maximum under this article. The maximum penalty under the article Vinatier is being charged under is five years in a penal colony.

Laurent Vinatier, an employee of the Swiss non-government organization Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was detained in Moscow in early June. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), he collected defense-related information that could be used to the detriment of security. The investigation found no signs of espionage in his actions.