Russian media reported on September 16 that a Moscow court agreed to proceed with the trial of French citizen Laurent Vinatier in a "special order" -- which guarantees a lighter sentence -- after he pleaded guilty to a charge of evading the responsibilities of a "foreign agent." After his plea was entered, investigators dropped espionage charges against the researcher after he was arrested in June. A trial in a "special order” means that a court cannot sentence a defendant to more than two-thirds of a maximum prison term. In Vinatier's case, he cannot be sentenced to more than two-thirds of the five-year sentence he faced, meaning that his possible prison term cannot exceed 40 months.
