Russian Court Sentences Rights Lawyer to 12-Year Prison Term on Treason Charge

A 66-year-old rights lawyer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a court in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. The sentence was imposed on Maria Bontsler, according to the rights group Slovo Zashchite. Bontsler had worked with several defendants accused of political offenses in Kaliningrad.

The FSB intelligence agency detained Bontsler on allegations that she passed information to Ukraine starting in 2024 about security officers in Kaliningrad. Prosecutors also alleged that she provided Ukraine with information on criminal cases in the exclave that were of interest to Kyiv.

Bontsler’s lawyers argued that none of the information cited by prosecutors was secret, and that she had been in ill health during her detention. The trial was held behind closed doors, with Bontsler and her lawyers prevented from attending, and she was allowed only to make a closing statement.

In 2022, Russia’s parliament approved laws making public actions aimed at “discrediting” the army illegal and banning the spread of “fake news” about the armed forces. Russian courts have also jailed lawyers who took on politically sensitive cases. In January 2025, three lawyers were sentenced to between three and a half and five and a half years on “extremism” charges.

A court statement posted on Telegram did not name Bontsler but stated that she was given an extra year of restrictions on her activity. Prosecutors had initially sought 15 years in prison for Bontsler.

Source: Al Jazeera